“This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.”

One must be careful with this type of evidence; after all there is more than one reason for the Israeli political police, Shin Beth, to fake such a video. Moreover, considering the clothing of the participants it would be remarkably easy to falsify it even for the youngest agent, maybe as a graduation project. Yet, the video matches other developments on the ground and thus it is credible. It was posted on YouTube on December 15, 2012, by an alleged coalition of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These are the four main Palestinian political parties. Considering the disintegration of Palestine into Hamas-controlled Gaza and Fatah-controlled West Bank, this video is by itself groundbreaking news. However, it contains more than an image of unity. Its main message is “This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.” This will be achieved through the newly established “National Union Battalions.”

Let me translate this into simple terms. Following the acceptance of Palestine as an Observer State by the UN, the main Palestinian factions have united and declared Palestine’s Independence War on Israel. Is this credible? Will Palestine declare independence on May 14, 2013?

New Uprising

The video at the left was filmed the day before and shows violence in Hebron. Palestinian police officers are seen clashing with Hamas supporters during a rally in Hebron which marked the group’s 25th anniversary. The demonstrators marched from the city hall toward an Israeli checkpoint while the Palestinian officers attempted to disperse them. The demonstrators threw stones at them, and a number of them were detained. Due to resolution issues it is difficult to say for sure, but several Israeli soldiers may have participated in the event.

This may look like a contradiction to the claims made in the video above, but it is not so. It has been five years since Hamas supporters were allowed to gather in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority police was just making sure they would not reach the IDF checkpoint. Hence, the video supports the claim that a new coalition had been achieved.

Since November, there has been an increase in West Bank protests. According to the IDF, 130 attacks were launched from the West Bank in that month; most of them were defined as “difficult to contain.” AMAN, Israel’s military intelligence, reports a sharp increase in alerts suggesting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Moreover, Palestinian Authority police stopped arresting Hamas operatives in the West Bank, and they are allowed to act freely. The Shin Beth released reports claiming that the West Bank is ripe for a third Intifada. Thus, at least the message in the video above is credible.

False Trigger

The IDF is fighting an outdated war. One of its generals, who refused to be identified by name, said on the same day to Yedioth Aharonot, Israel’s largest newspaper, “There are two scenarios that may indicate the future: The reopening of Hamas’ da’wah [charity] institutions in the West Bank and the complete suspension of arrests of Hamas operatives.” He added that the trigger for a third Intifada may end up being Jewish terror, such as “Price Tag” acts or clashes between Palestinians and settlers. One of the saddest things in this world is an old general trying to repeat a war from his youth; this unnamed general did just that.

The First Intifada was formally triggered on December 8, 1987. Two days before that, an Israeli salesman had been stabbed to death in Gaza; denizens suspected a retaliation from Israel. Then, an IDF tank transporter ran into a group of Palestinians from Jabalya Refugee Camp in Gaza. It killed four and injured seven, creating what looked like a retaliation. Subsequent violent protests became the Intifada. Yet, the ground had been burning for months; in despair, the IDF sent training units to the Occupied Territories since the beginning of that year. Years later, in September 2000, the Palestinian unrest was of a similar magnitude. The Second Intifada began on September 28, 2000, when Ariel Sharon, Likud candidate for Israeli Prime Minister, entered the Temple Mount accompanied by over 1,000 security guards. He said, “the Temple Mount is in our hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount.” By the end of 2012, the IDF is betting on a third variant of the theme. Yet, recent Palestinian actions show that a similar scenario is unlikely to happen.

Phase is Everything in Life

“Phase is everything in life,” a physicist friend told me once, and I found it impossible to refute his claim. Anybody thinking that the Palestinians will follow in 2013 the same patterns as they did in 1987 and 2000 is at least out of phase with our world and probably out of touch with reality. As analyzed in May 14, 2013, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proved that he possesses a sharp historical perspective by concentrating his efforts on the recognition of Palestine as an Observer State on the anniversary of the historic 1947 vote on UN Resolution 181, better known as the UN Partition Plan of Palestine. He outsmarted Israel, which concentrated its efforts on the annulment of the resolution, instead of attempting to change its symbolic date. This was the act of a mature statesman who realized that the negotiations had entered a dead end alley. He is unlikely to surrender to settlers or IDF provocations and has a clear goal: complete independence. For historical reasons, his best choice would be May 14, 2013. Hence, the IDF’s published scenario is unlikely. The date the violent phase of the struggle will begin on is not related to Israeli actions.

Regardless of the name used by the media, the Third Intifada has not begun. What we are seeing is a Palestinian national, coordinated effort to achieve independence. The video on the top of this page announces the soon to begin Palestinian War of Independence. Are you ready, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz?

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I’d say that the Palestinian issue and even Gaza weighs upon the Muslim’s ability to ALLOW non-Muslims their spaces and respect the whole gamut of non-Muslim entertainments. Throughout this blog, there are instances of why Muslims should not be allowed to dominate the world. Muslims are incapable of governing diversity or understanding Voltarian freedoms such as accepting LGBT, gambling, alcohol, adult industry to list a few examples. Gaza (inequitable by location – no country can be in two parts in this manner – best that a land swop or ceding of the Gaza territory by Palestine occurs . . . ) and Palestine will NEVER be free until perhaps for a start the Islamist leaning government in malaysia ALLOWS all the above listed HUMAN RIGHTS the appropriate spaces and legal recognition and enforcement protections in a manner suitable and dignifying of the groups mentioned. This is why Palestine does not ‘deserve’ to exist, this is why Israel has a right to persecute Muslims, simply by the persecution applied by Muslims on non-Muslims elsewhere in the world .

There can be no protection or rights for Palestine so long as in places like Malaysia there are no rights granted on the above issues and more so when Palestine keeps firing rockets at Israel.

Even ‘Malay’ (half-Malay) exiles running away from Malaysia’s political fascism hate on LGBTs as well. RPK is a Malay writer who flip-flops but generally hates LGBT . . Impossible to teach some people(s) . . . so how can islam ‘civilise’ and abide by rights of access and expression on so many other ‘Haram Rights’ issues for non-Muslims?

ARTICLE 2

Yemen Times interview with Russian Ambassador Vladimir Trofimov: – “I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity.” (Report).

“I will be happy to answer all your questions,” said the Russian Federation’s Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Trofimov when we met him for an interview. He candidly opened his hands, “When it comes to Yemeni and Russian relations, we have no secrets.” Trofimov had been ambassador in Yemen for two and half years and is likely to continue for another one and half. Before that, he had been working for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 35 years, 22 of which were spent Arab countries.

He graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1974 and in 1986 graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has a Masters degree in History and speaks German, English, French and Arabic. He is married with one son who also works or the Foreign Service, specialized in Chinese affairs.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf interviewed Trofimov about Russia, Yemen and international affairs.

Every year, the Russian Federation provides Yemen with 80 Bachelor degree scholarships in many fields in addition to 45 scholarships for military degrees. A Yemeni-Russian Friendship Association recommends candidates for 20 of the general scholarships, while the remaining are decided on by the Ministry of Education.

Russia has investments in energy as it involved in the establishment of the Marib Power Plant, although it is keen on expanding to other fields when opportunity is available.

There are representatives of many large Russian industrial companies in Yemen and they are involved in energy and medical work, among other fields.

In the last few years, Russia canceled USD 5.5 billion of Yemen’s debts it the Russian Federation. And while Yemen still owes USD 1.2 billion, there is no pressure to return this amount as Yemen continues to pay an annual interest rate around no more than USD 20 million a year.

To Yemen, the Russian federation is not a donor country as such. However, it does help Yemen in facilitating agreements and supports Yemen’s development through expertise and discounted deals for equipment, arms, medicines and so forth.

Russians in Yemen

Formally, 500 Russians, mostly doctors and nurses, are registered with the embassy and have official state contracts. Yet the total Russian community in Yemen by far exceeds this number. Trofimov estimates that there are around 3,500 Russians living in Yemen, mainly in the medical field while others working in geological exploration among other disciplines.

Over the years, there have not been serious complaints raised by Russians living in Yemen and the general impression is that Russians feel safe across the country. They work in Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hadramout and Hodeidah. The embassy does not instruct its citizens where to go and where not to, as they have been evidently wise in their movement and work in Yemen.

“Even we at the embassy don’t believe that we need extra security measures despite the tragic incident of kidnapping and murdering foreigners in Sa’ada,” he said. “Thanks to the Yemeni government, security around the embassy is good enough.”

Security cooperation

Russia and Yemen signed a security cooperation agreement in 1998 and since then the two countries have exchanged expertise and Russia has supported Yemen with intelligence and military training, besides the 24 military scholarships every year.

During Saleh’s visit to Moscow this February, the two countries agreed on cooperation in combating terrorism and piracy. As a follow up, a specialized Russian delegation will be visiting Yemen in November this year to take the agreement further. There is talk of a joint Yemeni-Russian anti-terrorism and anti-piracy committee.

President Saleh also signed a deal to buy arms from Russia during his February visit. This is not the first time that Yemen buys weapons from Russia, who provides Yemen with discounted prices.

“We know Yemen is not a very rich country, so we do what we can to support Yemen’s sovernity and internal security, which is very important to us,” he said.

Yemen’s instability

“Our relations with Yemen are friendly and strong,” he said. “Our position is to firmly support Yemen’s unity and integrity.”

But Russia does not interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs like other countries do, Trofimov stressed. It trusts that the current president was elected by the people through a democratic process, and hence it is not fair to meddle into local affairs.

However, he believes that the instability in Yemen should not be over-dramatized. Another country with the amount of arms available in Yemen would have already been blown to pieces. Yemenis are therefore patient and calm people and are wise at handling their internal affairs.

The demonstrations in the south are economically based, and were triggered by some foreign and local political interests that do not represent all the Yemeni people.

“I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity,” he said.

International affairs

Russia intends to hold a Middle East Peace Conference in the coming months. Its interest in the region’s stability is not new, as it has played a role as a mediator among many conflicting parties of the region.

“We don’t call it the Middle East,” he said. “We call it the Near East because it is near to us. And naturally we are concerned with its stability and want to ensure peace in the region. We have no problem talking to anyone in the process of making peace.”

Hamas has always been a controversial file between Russia and the United States among other western countries. Although there are currently around one and half million Russian Jews in Israel, Russia’s friendly position towards Hamas, Fatah and Iran has been made clear on more than one occasion.

“Mish’al had been invited to Russia twice before and we are inviting him again to visit some time soon,” he explained. “We must not ignore the fact that his government was a legitimate one elected by the Palestinian people. If we don’t consider Israel who keeps killing dozens of Palestinians every day a terrorist state, why should we consider Hamas a terrorist organization?”

“Our policy is to have fair relations with all sides, so that we can play a balanced role in the region in order to maintain peace,” he concluded.

Similarly, Russia’s relations with eastern countries are also maintained on friendly levels. Russia has annual USD 30 billion trade agreements with China and strong relations with India, notably commercial ones, as well as with other Asian countries.

Whether the new US administration means different US policy in the Middle East region is yet to be seen. However, Trofimov does find the Obama administration has a warmer attitude towards Russia compared to the Bush administration which was rather “confrontational.”…

The decapitated bodies of a judge, his wife and son were found at their home in one of the biggest Ukrainian cities of Kharkov on Saturday, police said. The killers also targeted the son’s partner, her body being mutilated in the same way.

­Victims of the graphic murder were discovered at the apartment of Vladimir Trofimov, 58, a judge of the city district court.

“The murder took place in the morning, four bodies are decapitated,” police said.

“We do not exclude Trofimov’s professional activity as a motive which led to the crime. But we are also looking into other possible reasons,” Kharkhov District police chief, Viktor Kozitsky remarked.

Local media report that police registered an emergency call at around 13:00 pm (11:00 GMT). The caller told them that he had found mutilated bodies of his four relatives including Trofimov himself, his wife, 59, their son in his 30s and the son’s girlfriend, 29. The murder occurred on the day that Ukrainian court workers celebrate their professional holiday. Kharkov is Ukraine’s second-largest city located in the country’s east. It was one of four Ukrainian cities to host the UEFA’s major football tournament Euro 2012.

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Silenced by the Arabs IN Russia (beheading seems to indicate)? Or silenced by the Russians themselves (in Arab style so that a war can be declared by Russia against Arabs . . . maybe high time so long as Islamists cannot abide by protection and granting of spaces and freedoms for non-Muslim entertainments) for being a double agent for Arabs in Yemen? Scary to get involved with these sorts . . . Gulag! Or conversion! Bad choices all, though extreme-Capitalism is no better . . .

Yemeni military court sentenced 93 members of the Republican Guard to prison terms from three to seven years for an attempt to break into the Defense Ministry building in August.

The elite Republican Guard is led by Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, son of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who resigned from power in February after more than a year of protests, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

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Postulation : Looks like North Korea informing/selling info with that new satellite? Satellites could be BRAIN SCANNERS . . . Memories do not fade Russia, but Kim should know that blackmailing of Russia for WW2 incursions quietly in the background, will be more useful to Kim in the long run than exposing Russia to Islamists directly. As for the necessity due to Russian treachery or the regain national pride of WW2 atrocities, that could wait until the Islamists have pledged to protect and ensure non-Muslim lifestyles.

There is a ‘morality’ ‘key’ on satellite technology that can only be operated by certain types of Egregore/Subconsciousneses born from certain types of persons or those of sufficient strength among a nation’s citizentry. Should the Egregore or or Subconsciousneses assent to operate the Satellite via contract with the owner, the ALIENS waiting outside the Earth’s orbit are ready to communicate with the owner of the satellite via the subconscious or egregore.

The above series of events INCLUDING the mass shooting of 26+1 in Newport (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100321171), and Hillary’s ‘timely’ (if not contrived) illness and concussion circa 16th December 2012 could be a sort of warning or brain transplant, or soul exchange occuring.

As for Kim, the isolation was so severe that if the ALIEN theory is true, then NK communications would be as important to describe the nature of humanity than be suppressed as in the current form. ALIENS may not fully understand human emotions and societies and having only met a handful of satellites, might be misled to think every other human was not good or needed to be suppressed. NK’s satellite was piloted by the ‘14th Dec 2012 Egregore‘ and reached space where ALIENS learnt the nature of isolation and reputational sabotage by human nation against human nation.

The other method of piercing the atmosphere is via psychic broadcasting, where a psychic broadcasts upwards into the atmosphere (this can be intercepted or conducted away) but such signals are of interest to ALIENS being biological in nature, and are viewed equally as valid expressions of humanity as the satellite. ALIENS as of now may be on a fact collecting mission, and having discovered the abuses of certain human segments of society are on a ‘cleanup’ mission. Internet and mobile phone incidentally have been entirely infiltrated and are being loaded by aliens who study the emotions, if not neurotech scientists . . . the psychoatric establishment also attempts to shut off communications by heavily drugging psychics able to pierce the atmosphere, this is effetive partially when localized and with opponent psychics focusing against.

Any refutes and discussions to/against the (most admitedly viewed as outlandish) above post is welcome.

Nicky was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was 29
The condition makes her muscles tighten, leaving her unable to move
Nicky now poses as a frozen Marilyn Monroe for two hours at a time to raise money for charity

A Parkinson’s sufferer whose muscles stiffen as a result of the disease has turned her condition into an art-form – by becoming a human statue.

Mother-of-four Nicky Pywell was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was just 29 forcing her to give up her career as a gardener.

The neurological condition means that without medication Nicky’s muscles and joints contract and tighten – and she is unable to move.

Nicky during her Marilyn Monroe performance

Good cause: Nicky decided to harness her muscle rigidity for charity by posing as a living statue for money

Undeterred, courageous Nicky decided not to let the debilitating disease get in her way and used her newly found talent to pose as a living statue.

She now raises money for charity by doing a Marilyn Monroe impersonation in her home town of Coalville, Leicester, for two hours at a time.

The street-artist now makes up to £400-a-time for Parkinson’s UK with her popular performances.

The 35-year-old said: ‘I become a living statue for two-and-a-half hours. I get stiff, all my muscles get rigid and I’m unable to move if I don’t have my medication.

Toddler enjoys first family Christmas at home after having ELEVEN tumours removed from all over her body
One loving family and a lethal divide: Sam, 25, and dying of a brain tumour insists faith healing can cure him. His cancer-consultant father is desperate for him to trust doctors

‘It was the idea of being stiff that led to being a statue. I do take little breaks but every time I am out on the platform I don’t move.

‘I raised about £390 the first time. That was taken from sponsorships beforehand as well as people giving me some on the day.

‘I gave an envelope to everyone I met that week telling them about myself and what I was doing.

‘I love Marilyn Monroe – she was a good actress and beautiful and glamorous. I find it really fun, I enjoy it and people say I look like her.’

Ms Pywell first sought her GP’s advice after she thought she had pulled a muscle while using a hedge trimmer nine years ago.
Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

As time went on her left arm began to shake and drag but it took another three years and four neurologists to diagnose Nicky because doctors thought she was too young to suffer from Parkinson’s.

She added: ‘I was working as a self taught and self-employed gardener which I loved.

‘This particular day I was using a hedge trimmer and I thought I had just pulled a muscle. My left arm felt stiff.

‘I went to a walk in clinic and they gave me anti-inflammatory medicine, but it didn’t go away.

‘Then my left arm began to shake, and my left leg began to drag so much that it affected my driving.

‘Over the next three years I saw three or four different neurologists. None of them thought it could be Parkinson’s because I was so young.

‘Eventually my new GP sent me to a different neurologist at Leicester General Hospital. They admitted me to the ward, and Parkinson’s was finally diagnosed.

‘The medication they put me on worked very quickly and I was able to walk out of hospital.

‘I felt that things were finally getting under control, with the help of my Parkinson’s nurse.

‘Giving up my gardening career was one of the hardest things for me. Now, I’m taking each day as it comes.

‘People aren’t aware that I’ve got it unless I tell them and you get funny looks from people who make assumptions.

‘It’s much more likely that people think you’re drunk or taking drugs. For me to accept I’ve got Parkinson’s it was easier for me if I told the world rather than tell people one by one. It’s something I’ve learned to live with and not to be ashamed of.’

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Actually the psychic or astral imprinting issue is a viable problem to be considered with people with illnesses displaying themselves as role models. The best would be for warning to accompany with the ‘statue busker’ that has an illness (which spoils the work), or to have people in perfect health AND a family history free of disease that do not need warnings. That way, HEALTHINESS can be psychically imprinted upon the passers by rather than ‘wiping off’ of illness (if even intended or possible being in such a poor state of health) on the casual onlooker. Subconsciously those less wary or unaware may end up psychically ‘imitating’ Parkinsons disease while out of ignorance due to attraction for Marilyn Monroe and hence there must be some forethought and caution on the part of the audience as well even as the worker puts themselves out on a limb as well.

Some of the people who are knowledgeable about this may not practice or are coordinated well in actual practice, conversely those who practice well (a large majority I would say), do not know how to communicate this being unschooled in occult language. Then there are those fractured by the psychiatric establishment for being too strong or too aware, but thats another neurotech tagged article on this blog for those who care to browse . . .

President Barack Obama wipes a tear as he speaks about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, …An emotional President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to “take meaningful action, regardless of the politics,” to prevent future tragedies like the shooting massacre Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“Our hearts are broken today,” Obama said in a brief statement at the White House briefing room, frequently pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.”

Obama expressed sorrow for the victims’ loved ones and sympathy for the parents of the children who survived but who know that “their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early.”

“As a country we have been through this too many times,” Obama said, listing a series of mass shootings over the past few years in places like Aurora, Colo.

“These neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” he stressed.

Earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that “today’s not the day” to talk about possible new gun control steps meant to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Obama ordered flags over government facilities to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Dec. 18. Shortly after he spoke, Connecticut State Police said the death toll included 20 children, six adults and the shooter.

Obama learned of the rampage at 10:30 a.m. from Homeland Security adviser John Brennan. He later discussed it by telephone with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Obama’s reference to acting “regardless of the politics” seemed likely to be a reference to deep opposition in Congress to new gun control legislation.

“Today’s not … a day to engage in the usual Washington policy debates,” Carney told reporters. “That day will come, but today’s not that day.” Carney said renewing a federal assault weapons ban “does remain a commitment” of the president. The ban expired in 2004, and Obama has taken no serious steps to renew it on Capitol Hill.

Carney declined to answer repeated questions on when would be an appropriate time for lawmakers in Washington to discuss possible actions to prevent future tragedies. “Our minds and our focus need to be on what’s happening there and providing assistance where we can to those who need it,” he said, urging “enormous sympathy for the families that are affected.”

One reporter pointed to Obama’s remarks in July just days after a shooting spree that left 12 dead and about 60 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

“I hope that over the next several days, next several weeks and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country,” Obama said at the time.

Obama has made similar comments before, including at a January 2011 memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., in which then-Rep. Gabby Giffords was grievously wounded.

“We have to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future,” Obama said. “But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. That we cannot do.”

Republican House Speaker John Boehner likewise ordered the Stars and Stripes lowered over the Capitol.

“The horror of this day seems so unbearable, but we will lock arms and unite as citizens, for that is how Americans rise above unspeakable evil,” Boehner said in a written statement. “Let us all come together in God’s grace to pray for the families of the victims, that they may find some comfort and peace amid such suffering.

“Let us give thanks for all those who helped get people to safety, and take heart from their example. The House of Representatives—like every American—stands ready to assist the people of Newtown, Connecticut,” Boehner said.

A country where every geezer or child is armed to the teeth is impossible to invade. Think Afghanistan where the kids casually carry around missile launchers or where an assault rifle is giiven as a coming of manhood gift. The above pic is of Russian origin. Does USA understand that people kill people and not guns kill people? Screening for psychos (psychiatrists kill with medications ALL THE TIME, so ban psychiatric meds . . . ) is the main issue.

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Absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Suggest that ALL owners of PRIVATE temples and churches be implanted with neurotech. Also all neurosurgeons who are able to implant neurotech and sellers of neurotech be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL private hospital committee chairs (or anyone with the authority to authorize bonuses), and ALL public listed company chairs serving more than 2 terms also required to be implanted with neurotech. ALL psychiatrists with the authority to implant neurotech be implanted with neurotech so that audits of all individuals possibly overseen by WHO can be done to see that abuse of political opponents and activists be prevented. Coroners who might have access to the dead and ‘used’ neurotech should also be implanted as well. The security people working at cushy jobs in nuke or dangerous weapon stockpiles also should be considered, to prevent bribery by unfriendly forces.

ALL neurotech implants should be registered with WHO and INTERPOL and deactivatable from WHO and INTERPOL to prevent abuse. ALL cabinet ministers related to security or neurotech based surveillance should be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL top police persons with access to neurotech devices be implanted with neurotech so that the NEUTRAL MEMBERS of public (i.e. no relatives, no neighbours, no people from the same establishment or work place) can do audits.

All neurotech implants NOT registered will be considered illegal. This way even banks and major companies leaking secrets and funds to unfriendly (not necessarily Muslet companies, but given the ‘War on terror’ the most infiltrations should likely be Muslet friendly ‘Whites’ of multifaith households or multifaith ‘toting’, yet Islamist leaning countries like Malaysia or some parts of Europe).

ARTICLE 5

New Russian motto: Legalize prostitution – collect taxes – 07.12.2012

The situation on the Russian market of sex services may soon dramatically change. Prostitutes will not be cheaper, and the moral climate in the society will not get better. Instead of vulnerability before the officials and clients, prostitutes would have “safety certificates” and those enjoying their bodies would have confidence that they are not dealing with a hotbed of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. A conference to discuss the initiative on the development of a law on legalization of prostitution was held in Moscow under the motto “legalize prostitution – collect taxes”. The idea was supported by a State Duma deputy from the party “United Russia” Joseph Kobzon.

The initiative on legalization of prostitution and the conference was originated by the fund “Morality Police.” The document of the organization, called a draft federal law “On state regulation and control of sexual services” suggested calling prostitutes “individual entrepreneurs engaged in providing sexual services,” and their clients – “consumers of sexual services.” The authors of the bill proposed to consider underground prostitution only sexual activities meant to obtain “income in the form of money or other material benefits.” The bill addresses the relationship between “entrepreneurs” and “consumers” as well as tax and other government agencies.

Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon supported the idea of ??the bill with reservations. He noted that the bill was just an excuse to start a great debate, perhaps even a referendum. “As soon as the State Duma starts drafting a law on prostitution, it will immediately raise the question of the need of its approval in the second reading by the government and presidential administration. Once the government feels that this law has a financial component, […] that there will be a need to allocate money from the budget to combat prostitution, it will be voted down,” said Kobzon. According to him, the money will be needed first of all for the maintenance of the new police unit – morality police.

Speaking after Kobzon, spokeswoman of the informal union of sex workers “Silver Rose” Oksana Yartseva noted that taxes that are rampant in prostitution “settle in the pockets of corruption.”

De facto prostitution flourishes in Russia, and the existing laws are obsolete. In the current Russian legislation Article 6.11 in the Code of Administrative Offences provides for a fine for prostitution between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles. There are two articles of the Criminal Code against pimps and keepers of brothels. They are “Involvement in prostitution” (up to a maximum of eight years in prison) and “Organization of prostitution” (ten years).

The conference overlooked the fact that talking about prostitutes we normally think of women, and thinking of customers we think of men only, which is not quite true. Everyone knows about the existence of male prostitution – and not just for the gay.

Sociologist Olga Kryshtanovskaya was among the most prominent opponents of legalization of prostitution at the conference. She did not like the fact that “it can be done by any girl who graduated from high school.” The opponents of this bill have two main arguments. The law on the legalization of prostitution is contrary to the traditional moral values ??and would lead to a greater spread of this vicious phenomenon. Ms. Kryshtanovskaya who specializes in the study of elites also mentioned sex tourism: “Would we face a huge influx of migrant sex tourists who will be coming along with their male migrant workers? How will it impact our demographic situation?”

In contrast to the arguments of morality and increasing number of prostitutes, the rhetorical question of Olga Kryshtanovskaya is very pertinent. The first oldest profession safely existed from time immemorial and, apparently, in one form or another will exist as long as the human race exists. As for Christianity, according to Jesus, individual prostitutes have a chance to enter the kingdom of heaven before priests and the elders. The spread of prostitution, as noted by Joseph Kobzon, is affected by social problems.

As long as Russia stays a poor country, the officials should think hard before legalizing prostitution. Otherwise, Russia can turn into semblance of Thailand that has become the center of world sex tourism. Russia should also look at the experience of Germany. Prostitution in Germany is legal in Protestant lands and prohibited in Catholic Bavaria. However, the ban does not lead to the destruction of brothels but, rather, drives them underground.

Igor Bukker

Pravda.Ru

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Igor? We all know that the regime establishment, chauvinists and militant feminists thrive off the sexual frustration of either gender. Prostitution if legalized will remove this element of psychic abuse from society and even prevent abuse especially FROM the hetero religious establishment fundos. The officials have been thinking ‘hard’, but Igor has been thinking ‘soft’. If Russia turns into the semblance of Thailand, one can only see the downfall of Capitalism as Socialism takes control when business goes to Russia. The economic vibrancy (we all know that places where the most entertainment occur is also where the biggest deals get done) of a Thailand-like Russia would dominate the world. Why would Igor not want that? Fifth columnist fronting for Capitalism? Igor is an ‘Igor’ for the Frankenstein of USA’s extreme-Capitalists (much like Islamists) . . .

European kindergartens and schools may ban children’s books and fairy tales that depict the traditional family. This is a request of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights. According to the committee, fairy tales should talk about sexual diversity. Norwegian experts believe that children benefit from watching porn.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality prepared a report that calls for a ban of all books that show the traditional family where the father is the breadwinner and the mother takes care of the children in schools and day care centers of Europe. According to the authors, these books are bad for the future life of children, especially girls, and promote wrong behavioral patterns. In the future, it may prevent them from building a career.

Feminists are concerned that children from an early age are constantly faced with “negative gender stereotypes” in television shows and commercials. The word “negative” in the report is synonymous with the word “traditional”. Over time, the ban would be extended to television and advertising. So far it was decided to start with books.

The authors of the report strongly recommend urgent legislative measures in the field of children’s literature. In particular, they suggest introducing a policy of “equality of all social sectors.” An example of alternative children’s literature is a book “King and King” with kissing men on the cover. According to the report, this would help children to learn about the “true sexual diversity of society.”

In fact, such measures have already been taken in some countries, particularly in Scandinavian ones that consider themselves the vanguard of Western democracy. “Pravda.Ru” once reported about a Swedish toy manufacturer that issued a catalog before Christmas where girls were pictured shooting imaginary enemies with laser guns, and boys were depicted playing with dolls.

This was a requirement of the Swedish advertising regulator who accused the toy manufacturer of sexism and imposition of negative gender stereotypes. Norwegian kindergartens in 2010 introduced a program of compulsory sex education focusing on sexual minorities.

The report of the European Parliament also insisted that “homosexuality should be taught in kindergarten as a form of experience and knowledge.” According to them, this will expand the concept of “gender identity” for children. “Sexual diversity should be obvious to children. Children need to know that this is normal when your parents are gay or lesbian.”

For some reason, not all parents are willing to believe that this is “normal.” In Norway Muslim community strongly opposed such education in kindergartens. They threatened to withdraw their children from such institutions or create an alternative.

For the “dark” parents who are not aware of the latest trends in sex education in modern society, Norway’s largest newspaper VG Nett recently published an opinion of psychologists and sex therapists who said that it was beneficial for children to watch porn on the internet.

“Parents should not be afraid of their children’s sexuality. Conversely, from a health perspective it is beneficial to watch porn at a time when parents and children talk openly about these issues,” said psychologist and sex researcher Andres Lindskog.

He was commenting on a statement recently issued by an expert from the organization Save the Children, who expressed concern about the fact that increasingly more children and teenagers were addicted to watching pornographic sites on the Internet.

Anders Lindskog is convinced that there is no addiction or harm from this. “It’s important for parents to understand that children are born with sexuality and follow their biology. Children have the same feelings as adults,” said the expert.

After that, should we be surprised that the number of cases of pedophilia is growing in Norway? They mostly occur within the family. A few days ago, newspapers wrote about another such case. A couple, a husband and wife, subjected their three children under 10 years of age to violence and sexual perversions for years.

The children confirmed the violence to the police. But that does not mean that the punishment will be sufficiently severe. In Norway, pedophilia is considered a disease and is listed in the Medical Register. For this reason, pedophiles are given short sentences – from several months to several years. In some cases punishment could be limited to penalty only. In the end, parents can always say that they practiced “diversity of sexual relations.”

Svetlana Smetanina

Pravda.Ru

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Since brain scanning neurotech use is rampant, the issue of abuse and consent as well as TRUE (non-contrived) experimentation among children and conscientious NON-ABUSIVE AND NON-PREDATORY AND NON-EXPLOITATIVE adults that are not a form of uncontrolled incest, should be considered as part of the law making process. There should be no ‘top-secret’ preventions in the expositions of technology and application to the populace any more to prevent abuse and Orwellian dictatorships, hidden or not.

As for feminists or chauvinists, these groups should be allowed to exist as well and educate in the form they would prefer (i.e. disallowing fairytales) BUT may only ‘recruit or induct’ from children who have been determined to have NATURAL PROPENSITY OR GRAVITATION BY A NEUTRAL PANEL and consensually chose the subculture . . . *NOT* even children of arbitrarily feminists or chauvinists by nature should be forced into this sub-culture.

That would mean that Feminists and Chauvinists would continue to exist as a social group, but only be based around affirmation of the type of person, which a child MUST independently decide, and choose from A LIST OF ALL VARIANTS OF SUBCULTURES which must be part of early education. Meanwhile parents back home must be taught to not *forcibly inculpate* ANY values so that the child may grow up independently to decide what they want, NOT what the parents want. Invariably, the traditional family would doubtless survive as well – PROVIDED the issue of land and wealth distribution is resolved and do not from lack of distribution cause poverty to influence the child’s decision and choice as well.

Warren Buffett, the investor famous for betting on aging industries like railroads and insurance, is now trying to pull off something other billionaires have tried and failed to do: save the newspaper business.

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has spent more than $342 million on 80 newspapers — including its hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald — and used them to build a new business unit. And Buffett isn’t done. Though the division announced plans to close an underperforming newspaper in Virginia last month, he’s said that more acquisitions may be in store.

Terry Kroeger, the newly installed chief of Buffett’s newspaper empire, runs the operation from a 15th-floor office overlooking the expanse of wide streets that make up Omaha, Neb. The goal, Kroeger says, is to reintroduce newspapers to what they do best: delivering urgent, local information that readers can’t get elsewhere — and coaxing people into paying for it. He’s also creating offshoot websites with corporate sponsors and branching out into Internet video.

“We’ve got to evolve with what people are looking for, and I think our industry has done kind of a crappy job with that,” Kroeger, 50, said in an interview.

Kroeger, who started working at the World-Herald 27 years ago, once kept a pair of sneakers under his desk to mow the lawn whenever the grass around the office building got unsightly. Just like in those early days, it’s essential to charge readers for the reporting that journalists provide, he said. The World- Herald erected a so-called pay wall last year, and Kroeger aims to roll out the same approach across his other newspapers.

“You can’t spend millions of dollars assembling something and then give it away,” he said, endorsing a strategy adopted by the New York Times, News Corp.’s Wall Street Journal and most of Gannett Co.’s papers.

The World-Herald, Buffett’s flagship paper, will see its revenue decline this year as circulation shrinks, Kroeger said. It generates about $100 million annually and remains profitable, said Kroeger, who declined to elaborate on its finances.

Buffett’s acquisition of 63 newspapers from Media General earlier this year accounts for most of the newspaper unit. Based on Media General statements, those newspapers generated $299.6 million last year, a 50 percent decline from 2006.

Kroeger said that Buffett’s total newspaper division is in the black and should remain so, despite the shrinking revenue.

“We’re profitable this year,” he said. “I have a high degree of confidence we will remain profitable next year as well. We’re very high on the industry.”

The paywall has helped support revenue, though the program is still in the early stages, he said. The World-Herald’s circulation, meanwhile, has continued to shrink. It fell 3.2 percent in weekday readership to 130,932 from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Alliance for Audited Media. The Sunday edition dropped 2.9 percent to 165,397.

Even if the paywall draws help boost subscriptions, the move is more of a palliative than a cure, Kroeger said.

“We have to get into new businesses,” he said.

One such venture, already under way, aggregates health-care articles from the World-Herald and other Berkshire-owned Nebraska newspapers into a website sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. The site, which is freely available to readers, has advertising in addition to the sponsorship.

The risk is that sponsorships jeopardize a newspaper’s objectivity, especially when it comes to medical information, said Todd Gitlin, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Kroeger said the arrangement with Blue Cross doesn’t affect the content.

The broader question is whether newspapers can evolve quickly enough to revive a decaying business. They’re confronting shrinking demand for print advertising, declining circulation, and encroachment from Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. The industry’s ad dollars dropped 6.6 percent in the first six months of 2012 from a year earlier, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

While community papers have an edge over publications in crowded media markets, no one has found a way out of the slump, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell in Burlingame, Calif.

“There’s no silver bullet,” he said. Newspapers in many places had enjoyed a near-monopoly pricing on print advertising, Doctor said. “That’s not coming back — for anybody.”

Kroeger said last month the company will shutter the Virginia-based Manassas News & Messenger, one of Buffett’s most recent acquisitions, and cut 105 jobs in the process. The newspaper faced too much direct competition from other papers in the area, which includes Washington, and was continuing to lose money, Kroeger said in the World-Herald.

“We didn’t see any way to really turn it back into a profitable enterprise, reliably, so what made the most sense was to just cease publication,” he said.

Other billionaires have tried and failed to turn around the newspaper business. Tribune Co., the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy in 2008, one year after a buyout led by real-estate magnate Sam Zell.

Buffett’s gamble is less ambitious. His recent spending spree on newspapers amounted to less than two-tenths of 1 percent of Berkshire’s total market value.

He also may have more success than others, said Don Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Co. Part of Berkshire’s strategy is focusing on smaller market papers that don’t have to compete with other media, Graham said.

“When you get larger, you get challenged by more forms of media competition for advertising delivery,” he said last week at an investor conference. “Anybody who really focuses on the newspaper business should be studying one company this year: Berkshire Hathaway.”

At Buffett’s Omaha paper, Kroeger is investing in high- definition video equipment, with an eye toward doing an online sports show featuring its reporters. That’s something major market newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have tried. Unlike those national publications, though, Buffett’s newspapers embrace a simple tenet: All news is local.

“The community aspect of what we do is so important,” Kroeger said. “Obituaries, for example, are huge. You want to find out how big a deal that is? Misspell somebody’s name in an obituary — once. You’ll never do it again. These things matter to people.”

Kroeger’s first job at the paper was as an assistant purchasing agent. He negotiated for newsprint costs from vendors and made sure the company’s trucks had enough gas to make their deliveries every day.

“I was pretty low on the food chain,” he said. “It’s where I learned about the nuts and bolts of the business.”

Buffett is a longtime investor in newspapers, though never at this scale in the past. Buffett’s interest in the industry had been mostly limited to a stake in the Washington Post and the 1977 purchase of the Buffalo News, which is run separately from Kroeger’s operations. Its publisher, Stan Lipsey, reports directly to Buffett. Berkshire also owns a stake in Gannett, the publisher of USA Today.

Buffett is the second-richest American, after Microsoft’s Bill Gates, with an estimated worth of $46.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s made him one of the highest-profile backers of print journalism.

“I’ve loved newspapers all my life — and always will,” Buffett wrote in a letter to employees of his newspapers earlier this year, before going on to say that he will probably buy more papers over the next few years. Buffett’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Kroeger declined to discuss the company’s future takeover targets. Other newspaper businesses focused on smaller markets include McClatchy Co., a publisher of 30 daily newspapers such as the Sacramento Bee, and E.W. Scripps Co., which operates 15 newspapers from Cincinnati. Tribune Co.’s newspapers also will be put up for sale as the company emerges from bankruptcy later this month, people familiar with the matter said this week.

Buffett, born in Omaha, has been a loyal subscriber to the World-Herald for most of his adult life and understands the challenges the paper faces, Kroeger said.

“He knows it’s not going to be easy turning things around,” Kroeger said. “He gets what we do here and he’s been incredibly helpful, generous with his time, offering advice when he can.”

Still, Buffett doesn’t influence news coverage, said Mike Reilly, the World-Herald’s executive editor. And there’s been no shift in how the paper covers him, he said. For years, the paper has run a weekly column on the billionaire called “Warren Watch,” something that continues under Buffett’s ownership.

“There hasn’t been any change in how I run the newsroom,” Reilly said. “We used to cover the heck out of him and we still cover the heck out of him.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Starting from articles on the net, the number of hits should decide WHICH articles get published on solid paper. The hits online determine how much a person gets paid for an article (this should be capped at a limit of minimum wage per SERIOUS article or if the – we can’t have people getting millions at the company’s expense for A SINGLE ARTICLE), THEN the article gets published BECAUSE of many hits. This way articles that people do not read are left out, and the 99% decide what gets published instead of the editors who are doubtless controlled by the political regime of the day. For non-serious articles or trivia like music launches, celebs or fashion the rate should be at 5% of minimum wage per article, as we do know that a single journalist can churn out dozens a week and these automatically get ‘hits’ because of the shallow masses or tired minds looking for something simple. Various articles of similar types could appear all at once, so the top 20 top hits of the same article perhaps could be edited AND the ‘minimum wage purse’ be shared among journalists who independently found the article on their own (reposters not counted). As for comments, the ‘average annual wage’ purse could be shared for the top 10% of comments so that feedback is also included. Newspapers should not pontificate but also include comments as well.

ARTICLE 8

Susan Rice withdraws from running for secretary of state – live coverage – guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 December 2012 23.11 GMT

Susan Rice

UN ambassador tells Obama ‘I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly’

As news of Rice’s withdrawal broke, the president entered a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner on how the two sides might come to a fiscal cliff compromise.

If the president caved on Rice, does that mean he’s in a cave-y mood generally?

The deputy chief of staff for the speaker’s office, David Schnittger, says the meeting has concluded, but he isn’t saying what happened.

The @whitehouse #fiscalcliff meeting between @speakerboehner and President Obama has concluded.
— David Schnittger (@OhSchnitt) December 13, 2012

11.11pm GMT

Slate’s Dave Weigel calls it. That guy’s good.

I just hope McCain makes a rare Sunday show appearance to discuss this news.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) December 13, 2012

Potential defense secretary Chuck Hagel, a former colleague of John Kerry’s on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and like Kerry a Vietnam vet, is not regarded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to be an especially faithful friend to Israel, Eli Lake reports in the Daily Beast (Aipac never takes formal positions on nominees):

A senior pro-Israel advocate in Washington told The Daily Beast on Thursday, “The pro-Israel community will view the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel in an extremely negative light. His record is unique in its animus towards Israel.”

Josh Block, a former spokesman for AIPAC and the CEO and president of the Israel Project, told The Daily Beast, “While in the Senate, Hagel voted against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, refused to call on the E.U. to designate Hezbollah a terrorist group, and consistently voted against sanctions on Iran for their illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. It is a matter of fact that his record on these issues puts him well outside the mainstream Democratic and Republican consensus.”

11.02pm GMT
Kerry: ‘we should all be grateful’ for Rice’s service

Ewen MacAskill sends John Kerry’s statement on the withdrawal of Susan Rice:

I’ve known and worked closely with Susan Rice not just at the UN, but in my own campaign for President. I’ve defended her publicly and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again because I know her character and I know her commitment. She’s an extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant. Today’s announcement doesn’t change any of that. We should all be grateful that she will continue to serve and contribute at the highest level. As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty. Kerry did not want to respond to questions from reporters about recent talk that Kerry is a top candidate to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty.
10.57pm GMT

Let’s hope Kerry recovers from his conflicted feelings about Rice’s political troubles in time to put a cheerful face on it should he be nominated to take the job that was supposed to be hers.

“I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks.” — John Kerry on Susan Rice. — The Fix (@TheFix) December 13, 2012

Heh.

If Kerry as Sec’y of State is half as effective against Iran’s mullahs as he was against Susan Rice, I’m for him — Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) December 13, 2012 10.43pm GMT

Updated at 10.47pm GMT

Who, apart from Sen. John McCain, is most pleased by today’s news? There’s reason to speculate that outgoing Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown might not be taking it so badly.

Brown is expected to be a front-runner to fill Kerry’s senate seat if Kerry gets the state nod. Here’s ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield:

…with Rice out of the running, Kerry is “all but certain” to get the nomination, according to ABC’s Jake Tapper. That means a vacant seat and a special election, which could benefit out-going Sen. Scott Brown, who lost his bid for reelection to Elizabeth Warren in November. […] Brown’s victory in a special election would not be a sure thing. Although he leaves office with high approval ratings- exit polls from the 2012 election showed him with a favor-ability rating of 60 percent- but Massachusetts is a solidly Democratic state, and there are many Democrats in elected office in the state who could challenge Brown. 10.37pm GMT

The uproar over Rice’s statements on Benghazi was fueled by a desperate attempt to score points during the presidential campaign, as Tom Ricks so bluntly explained on Fox News. Then Obama was reelected and the continued campaign against Rice began to look especially unhinged.

Consider Iowa Rep. Steve King, who today said the Benghazi scandal is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals combined, the Washington Times reported (h/t: @batterdippin):

“(Watergate) was a break-in that Nixon had no knowledge of at the time. It became about the cover-up,” King said. “Iran-Contra, again, as far as the real depths of what went wrong and who violated what laws, we didn’t really get that identified in there. … This is a case where we had an ambassador who was assassinated. He and the others were victims of a plot and a plan. We were willfully and intentionally misinformed by the White House. You know, if Richard Nixon tried to cover up Watergate, that’s an easy case to make that the Obama administration didn’t want us to know what has gone on. We still don’t know.”

This kind of circus wackiness, among other factors, made the case against Rice look weak. It looked like something a newly empowered president could bulldoze through. In late November, John Heilemann in New York Magazine went so far as to list five reasons why a Rice confirmation was a done deal:

As a rule, your columnist avoids predictions, but in the spirit of holiday indulgence, I will make an exception here: Not only will Obama appoint Rice to succeed Clinton but she will be confirmed.

Here’s Heilemann’s fourth reason:

4. Because McCain is being a jackass—and Obama is sick of it. Arguably more than any other national figure, the senior senator from Arizona is driven in every aspect of his public behavior by personal pique. In the wake of the 2000 Republican nomination fight, when he believed Bush and his campaign had defeated him by nefarious means, McCain lunged to the center and became one of the sharpest thorns in the side of the new president from his own party. In the wake of the 2008 election, when he was soundly thumped by a Democratic challenger whom he regarded as a neophyte and a pretender whose experience and valor were no match for his own, McCain immediately shed all traces of mavericky independence and became one of Obama’s fiercest critics from the right. […]

Apparently Obama wasn’t so sick of it. 10.27pm GMT

Updated at 10.30pm GMT

FILE – DECEMBER 13: Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from the running for Secretary of State. NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 30: Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City. UN Security Council negotiations regarding the situation in Syria collapsed last month. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Continuity Horizontal Syria USA New York City Meeting Politics Ambassador UN Security Council United Nations Blocked Terms Diplomacy Attending Permanent Representative Susan Rice Situation Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City.
10.13pm GMT

TPM’s Igor Bobic has a longer excerpt from Rice’s interview with Brian Williams to air tonight. Rice says that she didn’t want to see a disruptive confirmation process:

Today I made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the American people that I not continue to be considered by the president for secretary of state because I didn’t want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting, and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done as a country, and the first several months of a second-term president’s agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done. We’re talking about comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, that’s what matters, and to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted or deflected or maybe even some of these priorities impossible to achieve, I didn’t want that and I’d much prefer to continue doing what I’m doing, which is a job I love at the United Nations. 10.11pm GMT

The GOP, Michelle Obama and favors to repay

Guardian Washington bureau chief Ewen MacAskill observes that the president was in a tight spot over the secretary of state nomination – but now he is not:

The Republicans might have done Obama a favour. The president was under pressure from two of the women in his life, wife Michelle and adviser Valerie Jarrett, to give the job to their friend Rice rather than to Kerry. Obama owes Kerry, having used him repeatedly as an envoy to help with sensitive issues such as relations with the Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai. Kerry was also the Mitt Romney stand-in during presidential debate practice. Rice had the necessary diplomatic credentials. She has been right about more issues than she has been wrong, being an early champion of the West taking a tougher line on the Darfur issue. But when she has failed, she has failed badly. She was responsible for African affairs in the Clinton administration, and critics – fairly or unfairly – blame her for doing little to prevent the rapid disintegration of the Congo, a conflict that is estimated to have cost at least two million lives.

On a small scale, she was humiliated a fortnight ago when the UN general assembly voted in favour of a step towards Palestinian statehood. Showing none of the humility such a defeat deserved, she put her head down in the assembly to read out a defiant statement that would have pleased few outside of Israel. Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, has much wider experience in the diplomatic world, and knows already many of the world leaders. Rice’s departure from the field will be greeted with relief in foreign ministries round the world who have been on the receiving end of her rough tongue: that is, most of them. For the same reason, her continuation as UN ambassador will be greeted with groans at other UN missions. 10.06pm GMT

How spontaneous is the Rice news? She’s already taped an entire interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, a snippet of which just aired.

Rice said that the president’s second term would see “an attempt to get the crucial things done… [and] to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted [from these priorities]… I didn’t want that.”

She told Williams she’ll stay on as UN ambassador.

It’s gracious boilerplate for withdrawing nominees.

was #Susan Rice pushed or did she jump? — Barbara Slavin (@barbaraslavin1) December 13, 2012

9.59pm GMT
The rise and fall of the next secretary of state

At what point did the president decide the fight over Rice wasn’t worth it?

Obama was still fully behind his potential nominee when she made her trip to the Capitol Hill woodshed at the end of November, meeting with Sens. McCain, Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), Kelly Ayotte, (R-NH) and others.

“The concerns I have are greater today than they were before, we’re not even close to having the answers,” said Graham at a joint press conference following the meeting. “The American people got bad information on Sept. 16, bad information from the president after that, and the question is, should they have been given any information at all?”

Republicans accused Rice of misleading Congress and the public about what happened in Benghazi in the Sept. 11 attack that killed Amb. J. Christopher Stevens, a computer technician and two security contractors employed by the CIA.

The Obama administration, led publicly by Rice, initially made the attack on a US mission out to be part of a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islam video that had provoked such a protest that day in Cairo and elsewhere.

Later it emerged that there was no protest, that the attack was planned and that the mission was attached to a covert CIA post.

Five days after the attack, Rice made this misleading statement on NBC’s Meet the Press:

What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video. Opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. They came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and it escalated into a much more violent episode. In the face of GOP criticism, the president said Rice was simply passing on the best information the intelligence community had at the time.

“If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” Obama said. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous.”

Instead Republicans decided to continue to go after Rice, a lead adviser on the president’s first campaign.

Rice was not just another adviser; aides of both have told me Obama considered her someone he had a strong kinship with. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012

She was one of first national security wonks to join his camp in 2007 and played a big role suggesting Obama was experienced enough. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012 9.55pm GMT

The Guardian’s Chris McGreal notes that criticism of Rice went beyond her performance after the Benghazi attack:

Although Republican ire focused on Rice’s role in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, she faced strong criticism from other quarters over her backing of African despots and her unflinching support of Israel. Hours before Rice withdrew from the race, Robert Wexler, a six-term former congressman who now heads a pro-Israel think tank in Washington, said of her that “Israel has no greater champion in the current administration than Susan Rice”. That’s a view shared by some of her critics who say she has gone beyond the call of duty in projecting US policy on Israel to became a passionate defender of the Jewish state despite Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies, calling criticism at the UN “anti-Israel crap”. Rice went to lengths to woo the biggest of the pro-Israel lobby groups, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rice has also come under strong criticism over her positions on Africa, most recently for trying to suppress a UN report strongly critical of the Rwandan government’s arming and other support for rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rice was a national security official in Bill Clinton’s White House who played a part in the US’s failure to act against the 1994 genocide of Rwanda’s Tutsis. Since then she has been an unswerving supporter of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, who as a Tutsi rebel leader put a stop to the genocide even in the face of a growing body of evidence his forces are bound up with years of war crimes in Congo. Rice has also come under criticism for supporting other authoritarian leaders in Africa. In September she delivered a eulogy for the late prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, calling him “brilliant” and a “a true friend to me”. Meles had a long track record of bloody suppression of democracy. 9.39pm GMT

“I will do everything in my power to block [Rice] from being the United States secretary of state. She has proven that she either doesn’t understand or she is not willing to accept evidence on its face. There is no doubt five days later what this attack was and for” – Sen. John McCain on Fox News, Nov. 14, 2012

US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012. The 8th Manama Dialogue organized by the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which will run until 9 December 2012 will focus predominantly on Syria and broad regional security issues. EPA/MAZEN MAHDI US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012.

McCain reaches for the brandy and mutters to himself, “It’s a great day for America.” Fade out. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 13, 2012 9.35pm GMT

To many seasoned observers it looks like the president has just lost a high-profile fight with Republicans over a potential nominee he has very publicly defended, indeed is personally linked to.

BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith is reminded of the bloody Cabinet fights of Obama’s first term, when he had to nominate three commerce secretaries, including Bill Richardson, before he got one through, and when former Sen. Tom Daschle failed as a health secretary nominee. A bit of a repeat of very early term 1, esp on national security: Obama, bloodied up a little by the Hill, shows weakness. — Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) December 13, 2012 9.29pm GMT

Hagel thought to be front-runner for defense slot

Rice’s withdrawal isn’t the only action in cabinet shuffling this afternoon. Earlier today Bloomberg News reported that former Sen. Chuck Hagel had the completed the vetting process to be the secretary of defense nominee. The report describes Hagel as “the leading candidate to become Obama’s next Secretary of Defense.”

Another senator, John Kerry, also had been mentioned as a potential defense pick, perhaps as a consolation prize were he to be denied the job he really wants, secretary of state, which was thought to be occupied by Susan Rice.

Now Rice is out at state. And Hagel may be in at defense. Which for John Kerry could mean victory.

Here’s the Bloomberg report:

Hagel, who served as an enlisted Army infantryman in Vietnam, has passed the vetting process at the White House Counsel’s office, said one of the people. The former Nebraska senator has told associates that he is awaiting final word from the president, said the other person. Both requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Other contenders are Michele Flournoy, former defense undersecretary for policy, and Ashton Carter, deputy defense secretary, administration officials have said. Obama invited Hagel to the White House on Dec. 4 to discuss the position with him, according to an administration official. The president hasn’t made a final decision, said another official. Both asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today declined to comment on whether Obama is considering Hagel, saying only that the two-term former lawmaker was widely respected. – 9.22pm GMT

Rice’s letter withdrawing her name

Here’s Rice’s letter to the president withdrawing from consideration as US secretary of state. “The position of secretary of state should never be politicized,” she says. Ambassador Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama (h/t: @thematthewkeys and @katierogers) 9.16pm GMT

The Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill sends President Obama’s full response on the Rice announcement. The president said he spoke with Rice today:

Today, I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State. For two decades, Susan has proven to be an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant. As my Ambassador to the United Nations, she plays an indispensable role in advancing America’s interests. Already, she has secured international support for sanctions against Iran and North Korea, worked to protect the people of Libya, helped achieve an independent South Sudan, stood up for Israel’s security and legitimacy, and served as an advocate for UN reform and the human rights of all people. I am grateful that Susan will continue to serve as our Ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my cabinet and national security team, carrying her work forward on all of these and other issues. I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend. While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first. The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country. 9.13pm GMT

Obama ‘deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack’ on Rice CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller gets the response from President Obama, who says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Rice, but her decision “demonstrates the strength of her character & an admirable commitment to rise above politics.” In written statement, Pres Obama says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Susan Rice, — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 13, 2012

In his first press conference after his reelection, the president struck a note of unusual perturbance in responding to Republican attacks on Rice.

“[Rice] has done exemplary work,” he said. “She has represented the United States… with skill and professionalism and toughness and grace. … and if Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.” 9.11pm GMT

Rice out of the running for secretary of state

UN ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for secretary of state, NBC News has reported. A potential nomination for Rice, who for months was perceived to be the president’s top pick, has been the object of fierce opposition from Republicans, who accuse her of misconduct following the September attack on Benghazi.

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama obtained by NBC. “That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country … Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time.”

We’ll be live-blogging developments. 9.04pm GMT

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Good honourable and ethical move by Rice. Rice has decided to ditch crony politics by sacrificing an opportunity that destroys democracy. Frankly ‘friends’ or seat holders in other places should not be ‘re-given’ posts. This should be something a panel should vote on and willing volunteers from a talent pool should sign on for for their 15 minutes of fame.

More than any other politician in America, her candidacy would change the contours of the next election.

Every Democrat with ambitions to succeed President Obama wants to know the answer to one question: Is Hillary Clinton going to run? If so, many will decide against doing so themselves. Who wants to square off against an opponent who’ll have a better fundraising operation, a better resume, and a spouse who happens to be America’s best surrogate? At the moment when the first black president is preparing to leave the White House, who will want to run against someone with a more than viable chance of becoming the first woman president?

“She seems like Democrats’ best bet, perhaps by some margin, to extend their winning streak to three or more terms in the White House,” Nate Silver notes. “If she ran even a point or two stronger than a ‘generic’ Democrat, the odds would shift meaningfully in her favor, holding other circumstances equal.”

But say Clinton doesn’t run. That changes everything, doesn’t it? Any Democratic primary without her would be dubbed “wide open.” Joe Biden may try to succeed his boss either way. But he is eminently beatable, as every aspiring alternative knows. He wouldn’t scare anyone away.

I won’t speculate about whether she’ll run. We’ll know in time. I’ll just say that it matters now that we don’t know, insofar as the uncertainty itself affects present behavior among certain Democrats.

I’d prefer it if Hillary Clinton stayed out of future races. My instinct is that she’d abuse executive power and civil liberties every bit as much as the man who appointed her to be secretary of state, especially now that he has acclimated the left to transgressing against transparency and the rule of law. What I can’t deny to Democrats is the likelihood that her foreign policy experience would permit her to retain her party’s edge on those issues, especially if she ran against someone as inexperienced as Marco Rubio, whose foreign-policy chops are hard to take seriously.

Grizzled feels more reassuring than boyish, does it not?

That isn’t to say she’d be a lock in the general election. About the only prediction I’m willing to make about Election 2016 is that Hillary Clinton would be a strong candidate barring a scandal.

But “likeable enough” to win?

What I’ll be most interested to see, if she does run, is how the conservative movement reacts to her candidacy. With relative sanity, insofar as they can’t very well accuse her of being a Kenyan anti-colonialist? With a return to the anti-Clintonian fervor of the 1990s? I suspect the latter reaction wouldn’t play well. Politicians who hang around long enough seem to become inured even to scandals in which they were actually caught red-handed. There isn’t anything so clear cut in Clinton’s past, and if many Americans are like me, the word “Whitewater” would send an involuntary shudder of dread coursing through the population, as if we were collectively told we’d have to re-watch the pre-trial motions from the O.J. Simpson trial while sequestered in a cheap hotel with nothing for diversion but Clinton-era back issues of The American Spectator.

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Can see the family blocs in 3rd world countries ready to jump on this opportunity to justify nepotism . . . do the right thing USA. Political culture is bad enough as is. Then the impossibly timely occurance below :

First stomach virus THEN concussion after ‘accepting’ the run for Presidency? (After Bill then Hillary, what next? Clinton’s children for President as well? Might as well run and declare USA a monarchy . . . no hate there but the 3rd world really cannot do with any justifications for nepotism arising from USA of all places! The Presidency of the United States and even so many high official posts should never be a hand down post, if a seat has been held by a family member, no way should the seat be allowed to another from the Clintons – the friends and cronies issue of seat/post hand downs are already bad enough, don’t start a trend . . . ) False flag or a warning by greater forces or even a warning by USA to 3rd world countries in the form of a false flag? Anything to put a stop to nepotism which destroys democracy and leads to dictatorship.

ARTICLE 10

Charlie Gonzalez’s Departure from Congress Marks End to Political Dynasty – Published December 17, 2012 – Fox News Latino

Charlie Gonzalez

San Antonio, Tex. – The retirement from Congress of Rep. Charlie Gonzalez is ending a half-century streak during which his father, then he, served in Congress, representing their San Antonio district.

The outgoing chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus served 14 years after replacing his famous father, Henry B. Gonzalez, who carved out a lasting legacy as a political reformer and civil rights leader.

Charlie Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, is returning to private life after deciding to not seek an eighth term. Taking his seat is Joaquin Castro, whose family packs its own celebrity pedigree: His twin brother is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a rising star on the national stage who was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year.

Charlie Gonzalez told the San Antonio Express-News that he’s leaving with a “sense of sadness.”

“It’s a job, but it’s an incredible job. The people, the surroundings, nothing compares to it,” Gonzalez said. “It is bittersweet. That is the best way to describe it.”

Charlie Gonzalez was first elected in 1988. His father served for 37 years and was chairman of the House Banking Committee, which wielded power over financial institutions and was instrumental in pushing reforms. The elder Gonzalez used that clout to push for public housing and programs for the homeless.

Larry Hufford, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said the elder Gonzalez pursued social justice in a time when it wasn’t fashionable. Charlie Gonzalez represented a 20th congressional district that, by the end of this last term, covered impoverished barrios on the city’s West side as well as middle-class and affluent neighborhoods to the north.

When it came to national issue, Charlie Gonzalez used his status Hispanic Caucus chairman to push for immigration reform.

“Charlie was able to carry on that legacy with a much different style; more low-keyed but very effective,” Hufford said.

Charlie Gonzalez dismissed suggestions that he could wind up being an appointee in President Barack Obama’s second term or be elected to a statewide office. A Democrat hasn’t been elected statewide in Texas since 1994.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Gonzalez’s decision to leave Congress marks the “end of an era.”

“To decide on my own when to leave Congress, that wasn’t a decision wasted on me,” Charlie Gonzalez said. “I’m a blessed individual. Rather than having circumstances imposed on my life, I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life. It is my encore career.”

This is based on a story by The Associated Press.

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Rare example of ethics. there is nothing beneficial personally for Gonzalez in quitting, but every such quit makes Democracy stronger and makes nepotism and oligarchy weaker. THIS should be the criteria for state awards or monuments than anything else. There is no end to wealth and power, and once enough politicians focus their value system on higher values away from the greed or power-madness fog, the super-pac, too big to fail, and plutocrat/corporate lobbyist and eventually the economy issues, will be easier to fathom and deal with. This is a form of ethics, as preventing nepotism is as dangerous as corruption in politics.

Tanis Baker, 21, dressed as a ninja to ‘strike fear in the hearts of criminals
He was arrested after officers who spotted him became concerned
He was soon surrounded by armed police, dogs and a helicopter
Two hidden rucksacks containing smokebombs and costumes found after arrest

Comic book fan: Tanis Baker told police he was a vigilante in a ninja costume after police arrested him while armed with a homemade wooden Samurai sword

A would-be vigilante was arrested by armed police after he dressed up as a ninja and armed himself with a wooden Samurai sword.

Mystery man-in-black Tanis Baker, 21, wanted to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in his neighbourhood just like his comic book idols.

But a court heard Baker ended up on the wrong side of the law after dressing up in ninja-style black body armour and a mask.

He armed himself with smoke bombs and a home-made wooden Samurai sword then crouched in the darkness in a park ready to pounce on any troublemakers.

But a police officer saw Baker in the shadows – and he called for back-up because of his concerns over the mystery figure.

Within minutes he was surrounded by armed officers, police dogs and a helicopter hovering overhead above Beechwood Park in Newport, South Wales.

He was arrested and officers found two hidden rucksacks containing seven smoke bombs and other vigilante costumes.

Magistrates at Cwmbran, South Wales, heard he told police he was a ‘vigilante in a costume’ and that he wanted to help people in trouble.

He claimed to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the police on the streets and wanted to strike fear into criminals.

The probation officer who assessed him said Baker was a fan of American comic book superheroes.

His probation report said: ‘He seems to get confused between fantasy and reality and sometimes had trouble distinguishing between what was in comic books and what was real life.’

The court heard that in real life Baker is no superhero but works as a barman in a snooker club in Newport, South Wales.

Hi-ya! Mr Tanis said he dressed up as a ninja to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in Newport (picture posed by model)

Louise Warren, defending, said: ‘Baker was bullied for many years and struggled growing up in his neighbourhood.

‘He was attacked by a gang of youths while out with his sister a year ago, but police were unable to find the offenders.

‘Since then Baker has wanted to help the police to protect society.’

The court heard Baker was asked what he would do if he encountered a real crime and said he had not thought that far ahead.

Superhero: How Baker might have looked when he was arrested while dressed as a vigilante ninja

He was given a 12-month supervision order and ordered to carry out 60 hours unpaid work.

Chairman of the magistrates Paul Lavin, said: ‘You may have thought you were helping but you caused a lot of trouble.

‘Do not do this in future or else you’ll be in big trouble.’

Baker, of Cwmbran, South Wales, admitted having an offensive weapon in a public place.

He declined to comment after the case.

Storm in a teacup as The Ninja of Newport has to meet the authorities somehow when he makes his introduction but now he could supply them with a trusty Ninjaphone to ring him in their hour of need to save the day and help restore law and order showing the baddies there’s a new guy in town and his name is THE NINJA OF NEWPORT!!! *plays national anthem*

– Stuart , Edinburgh Scotland, United Kingdom, 13/12/2012 18:34

We need more vigilantes on the street, but we criminalise them instead. Take Phoenix jones of Seattle, he and his friends do a great job, lawfully and prevent crimes, as well as assisting law officers.

– Illuminati cards , Bunker, 13/12/2012 18:49

What part was illegal ? Smoke bombs aren’t illegal, they are let off at paintballing sites, and wooden sticks aren’t illegal unless something new has happened, that makes drumming against the law.

– mileage , Barry, 13/12/2012 18:49

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Look here anyone is allowed to cosplay a ninja or favourite super hero (or Otaku genre!) character. Orwell has taken over Newport. More ‘ninjas’ or cosplayers should lurk ‘ in the shadows ‘, SPECIFICALLY to see what the local enforcement does. Good work Tanis! Now we all know that Newport is not a free sort of place. A really free minded place would give a verbal warning or even co-opt the ‘ninja’ as an eccentric member of the neighbourhood watch who refused to work with the formal watch. More cosplayers! And know that permission for carrying actual weapons can be obtained and if registered should not be an offence.

But a wooden sword? Thats not even a weapon. A really long carving knife is more dangerous than a wooden sword and is legal to carry around. A handgun is more dangerous than the above and still is legal. Lurking might be addressed with a simple request. And the reasons given are only to protect society! What gives Newport? More cosplayers and lurkers EVERYWHERE! How about openly walking around with masks, costumes and ‘lurking’ in corners for the rest of the week Newporters! I’m surprised Tanis did not challenge the judgment. Where’s that US culture of freedom and vigilante-ism? For the conservative types, try Cowboys and Indians with camping knives, whips and 6 shooters for a start . . . set up camp in a ‘lurky’ area EVERYDAY in shifts. See what the local enforcement does . . . we’ll know where Orwell LURKS instead – then set up a map of ‘people friendly’ and ‘people unfriendly’ places, the 99% will know how to vote or which laws to amend . . .

House Speaker John Boehner has made a decision that will make some wealthy Americans squeal, while making most Americans smile.

Boehner, after weeks of rhetoric that Republicans and Democrats were miles apart on fiscal cliff talks, relented on a stance that high earners shouldn’t see higher taxes. Now, Boehner has agreed to raise taxes on Americans making more than $1 million, reversing an earlier position that all Bush Era tax cuts should stand.

The move by Boehner is particularly significant for several reasons. First, it’s a gesture toward compromise— Democrats wanted taxes raised on Americans making more than $250,000, while Republicans, at first, would have none of it—and suggests the two sides may finally become serious about averting the fiscal cliff. Next, the tax hikes would increase federal coffers by some $1 trillion over 10 years; President Obama has demanded $1.4 trillion in new revenue, but at least the pols’ figures are growing closer. And Boehener’s decision is a refreshing signal that, when confronted with dire forecasts—like the one that predicts a recession to start 2013 if the fiscal cliff happens—Washington, D.C can put aside partisinism and past promises. Though, I imagine that Grover Norsquist takes little glee from Boehner’s shift.

Republicans are the first to sacrifice a sacred cow. Now, Democrats must too. What mostly impedes progress? Some $200 billion. That’s the difference between the spending cuts in federal health care programs that Republicans want ($600 billion) and Democrats want ($400 billion).

Investors will probably take this move by the pols as evidence that a deal will eventually come. We haven’t piled out of stocks quite like you might think. Indeed, the major benchmarks this month have gained about 4%. There hasn’t been that complete flight to safety—into the cash-generative arms of Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney—and away from risk—fleeing the speculation around a Research In Motion comeback or better times for Alpha Natural.

Still, the cliff today looks less like a chasm than it did just a few days earlier.

Reach Abram Brown at abrown@forbes.com.

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Squeal? What they earn in a year is an entire lifetimes 401K or many times more than 401K which the 99% takes decades to earn, these wealthy Americans are just SPOILT. Boehner did good, and if the wealthy Americans are too squealy, they are welcome to move to a favourite country of their choice – as mentioned before all assets a country has are land and resource divided by number of citizens not useless fiat. the US A will be happy to have 1 citizen less and more to share among those who stay.

ARTICLE 12.5

French wealthy ‘feel victimised by tax’ – by Hugh Schofield – 10 December 2012 Last updated at 15:02 GMT Help

Actor Gerard Depardieu has become the latest wealthy person to flee France’s 75% tax on those earning over 1m euros a year.

The star has bought a house over the border in the Belgian village of Nechin.

France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault has already applied for Belgian citizenship and thousands of other wealthy French people are making the move.

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The ‘wealthiest’ will NEVER pay enough because in 1 year they earn 10 lifetimes what most ‘wealthiest’ Frenchmen earn in decades EVEN AFTER TAX. No place for Marie Antoinettes here . . . and 75% tax is not enough because they can hold assets up to 75,000% of what the ordinary french person has with the very wealthiest earning 7500% of what the 99% does EVEN AFTER TAX. 75% of 100 million of the less ecxeptional wealthiest is still 25 million in earnings, 75% of 10 million is 2.5 million in earnings which is easily 10 times what the 99% earn in a lifetime . . . Victimised?

Some Frenchmen can’t even buy French bread or have a French roof! That money goes to social services not banquets for the French officials I hope, otherwise time to storm the Bastille again . . . 75% tax is farcical considering the above facts.

The issue of child prostitution and its supposed alter-ego, adult prostitution, are personal to me because I’ve experienced both, having been prostituted between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two.

I sometimes think of what those who knew nothing of me would have thought of me, as they caught glimpses of me, on the different stages of those seven years. Who doubts that the majority would have looked at my young teenaged self and wondered what sort of world we lived in? And who doubts, if they’re honest, that many would have looked at my young adult self and wondered what sort of women populated it?

This is the dichotomy of adult and child and they are viewed as very separate, very distinct, so that there is a clearly perceived line between these stages, these ages, but in fact it is not a line. It is a bridge. It is a bridge that spans the in-between; that gap that connects the points in the lives of so many women who were prostituted first as children then as adults. I lived that bridge in my own prostitution life, when I was turning from a child into a woman, and I was used sexually for money on most of the days that made up my adolescence, as I was before in childhood and afterwards in early adulthood. And here is the crux of the matter: it was all the same nightmare to me.

People chose though, before and after those in-between years, whether I was blameless or blameworthy. In the interim, while I existed in the in-between, each individual who looked at me or fucked me had the privilege of making up their own mind. Many did, and most chose the latter.

After that, when I was identifiably a woman, it was not a case of ‘most’ anymore, but ‘almost all’ – because almost all those who looked at me in my young adulthood decided that I’d chosen what was happening, and saw it as what I was doing rather than what was being done to me.

The ‘done to me’ aspect died, you see, along with my adolescence in the perspectives of other people. The problem was it didn’t die, and I was still alive, living the ‘done to me’ reality every day.

As a fourteen-year-old girl, a full year before I ever started prostituting, I first realised that some men felt an actual entitlement to my body. This was perfectly expressed by the extreme belligerence they’d display when I rejected their advances. They would be so angry. ‘How dare you?’ said their actions. I couldn’t make any sense of that attitude. It was literally like someone was speaking in a foreign language to me, and it was a foreign language in a sense; it was the language of sexual entitlement. I became fluent in the language eventually, but fluent in the sense of someone speaking a language not of their origin; someone who can understand it audibly, but will never be able to write it.

At that time though, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could think it was okay to walk up to someone on the street and wrap your arms around them, or grope somebody, or growl what you’d like to do to them into their ear. But I had all these experiences as a fourteen-year-old girl and I’d had three approaches by paedophiles as a pre-pubescent child, and still I could not fathom why and how this was supposed to be acceptable in the view of these men, why this was supposed to be okay. I remember one man’s surprise and affront as he told me “You’re very standoffish!” after I pulled away from a physical embrace I didn’t initiate, ask for, permit or fucking want.

These experiences came thick and fast from the age of fourteen, when I began to be more noticeably developing breasts. It is little wonder I became fluent in the language of male sexual entitlement. Facial expressions, aggressive stances, weary sighs, protracted silences – all these too make up part of that language, all these are used to communicate the idea that you’re expected to consent when a man decides he will have rights to your body.

So I’d had some schooling, in that sense, as to what prostitution expected of me. What I didn’t know was how bad it was going to get. I couldn’t have known that before I experienced it. It was unknowable. Well, I soon found out, and what I found out didn’t get any better on the day I turned eighteen and it didn’t get any better on the day I turned twenty-one either.

They bother me, these stupid irrelevant lines that are drawn that attempt to divide the lived reality of the prostitution experience based on whether a female is fifteen or seventeen, seventeen or nineteen, eighteen or twenty. They are diversions to the central matter at hand; they divert from the core issue. They disappear the fact that this is wrong, not only by degrees that deepen with the youthfulness of its target, but by its nature, so that all those who’ve been paid for sex they do not want have suffered sexual abuse. There is a shelf-life for women in prostitution, but there is no shelf-life for the nature of prostitution. Its abusive core does not morph into something else on a person’s eighteenth birthday. Not that many men wait that long in the first place.

And on that note, people need to start querying what is the criterion for fuckability according to sex-buying men? What is their divining rod for ‘of age’? Is it a pair of breasts? My experience of prostitution is that it is any pair of breasts, regardless that they’re still developing; and this we’ve got to see as a form of sexual selfishness that has decayed to the point where it’s putrid. It is also a nonsense of a position, because if a pair of breasts at any stage of development signify completed womanhood then every females adulthood actually began at the onset of puberty; not began to form, but began in full. Every woman was a woman before she was a woman, by that ludicrous standard.

I am sure we will have a lot of indignation from sex buyers on this point, but as a fifteen-year-old child with developing breasts I was abused by a multitude of these men every day; men, some of whom would never have considered themselves paedophiles or predators or abusers – and I saw the same men pay to use the bodies of other adolescents with breasts, one of them just thirteen years old, so I can assure the reader that these men assured themselves wherever there was the presence of breasts there was the absence of childhood.

Added to this, men who buy sex are obsessed with the act of despoilment; they are, as a group, blatantly obsessed with the desire to fuck the youngest girl they can find. The upshot of this of course is that there is great commercial value placed on youth in prostitution. I have thought at length and written a little about Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth, and I know both that this exists as a reality in prostitution and that is speaks with great clarity to the putrid sexual selfishness I’ve just mentioned.

So adolescents are fair game in prostitution; I’ve made my point, but it’s important also to look at an uncanny resemblance here: adolescence is the physical reality, the mirror image made flesh and form, of that place where a woman is halfway between being prostituted and being trafficked. That point where women go to other countries knowing they’ll be working in the sex trade, but not knowing what that reality really means, or not knowing that they’ll be charged four and five figure sums for the privilege of their prostitutions organisation. This is another of prostitutions in-betweens. They exist in various forms, and very often these mid-spectrum situations are misrepresented and then misappropriated so that they can be used to gloss over the reality of the sex trade. For example those women who are working back thousands of euros/dollars/pounds of money they supposedly ‘owe’ are not classified as trafficking victims, although that is what they are. The sex industry calls them ‘independent escorts’ and ignores and erases the misery of their lives.

In the same way, people who live prostitution during the transition between childhood and adulthood must be mislabelled and filed away, inconvenient as they are. They must be either a child or an adult according to the sex industry, and also, disturbingly, to some anti-trafficking groups. Some groups decide to find a way around this by subdividing adolescence into stages where those from twelve to fourteen are deemed worthy of sympathy and attention, while fifteen to seventeen-year-olds are brushed to one side with the gut-churning excuse that they have so much more ‘personal agency’.

When, I would like to ask the senior members of these groups, did my personal agency begin? Because by their criterion it seems to me it began at the stroke of midnight as I entered my fifteenth year, which makes me feel like a very sorry version of Cinderella; except the slipper in this fairytale was never going to fit because it had been shattered, and believe me, Prince Charming was nowhere to be seen. I had no more personal agency at fifteen than I had the year before, in fact I had significantly less, because at fourteen I had only six months of homelessness behind me; at fifteen I had a year and a half. In homelessness your desperation increases with time, not decreases. If people think ‘personal agency’ always increases with the forward march of time they are lucky people who’ve never had to deal with the miserable conditions of their own lives intensifying with time, and they’re obviously so detached from that life experience they’ve never even considered it.

By drawing distinctions between trafficking and prostitution, between under and over eighteen, some well-intentioned anti-trafficking organisations acquiesce to the perpetuation of a system known to be extremely violent and damaging while continuing to stigmatise and blame most of its victims. This stigmatisation maintains the disempowerment and marginalisation of the same population these groups want to help. It also empowers the predators who prey on our most vulnerable, whether under or over eighteen.

FreeIrishWoman

ARTICLE 14

Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth – Posted on June 3, 2012

People who argue that prostitution would be free of coercion, trafficking, the exploitation of minors – and everything else that prevents it from being some kind of all-above-board consenting-adults-only autonomy party – are people who ignore one vital aspect of prostitutions reality. It is the commercial value of youth.

Just as in some actual industries, like modelling or professional dance, youth is highly prized among attributes. Unlike modelling or dance though, youth in prostitution is prized far above beauty and the fluidity of movement. In order to be most highly in demand in prostitution, you don’t need to be the prettiest flower in the field; you just need to be among the youngest. And what you can or cannot do with your body is irrelevant; it just matters that it hasn’t been on the planet for very long.

One of the commonest questions that comes through on any brothels phone line is ‘What age is the youngest girl you have?’ I could not count the times I have been asked that question, and I defy anybody who has answered a brothels phone to tell the blatant lie that it is not the commonest question they’ve been asked too.

The commercial value of youth is so profoundly built-in to prostitution that women routinely lie about their age in order to generate more business. The clients know this, of course, and even as women are shaving a few years off clients are adding a few on. ‘I’m twenty-six – I’ll tell him I’m twenty-three’ / ‘She’s twenty-three? – that means she’s twenty-six’.

Nobody’s fooling anybody here, and the only thing the whole pathetic charade is any good for is the revealing nature of what’s going on behind the pretence. What it reveals, of course, is that men who buy bodies for sex usually want to buy the youngest body they can find.

Last year it was reported to the BBC that prostitutes as young as thirteen were working the streets in Swindon, in the English county of Wiltshire. “Come here at the weekend and you’ll get 13-year-old girls to 19-year-old girls out here”, one prostitute told reporters.

When I read reports like these I just sigh. It tires me to pre-empt the shock people will express. It tires me to imagine that shock, whether it is genuine or not, because if it is genuine then that proves we have a long way to go in educating people about the reality of prostitution, and if it is not, well then, here is yet more in a tsunami of evidence that there are those who do not want the reality of prostitution understood.

Whenever any evidence of teenaged prostitution is revealed the pro-prostitution lobby move immediately to put forth the preposterous assertion that this town is somehow different or unique. The attitude is always either ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, who ever heard of such a thing?’ – or ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, we could clear up this situation if we legalised prostitution!’ – as if somehow the demand for adolescent bodies would vanish if only we’d make the sale of adult bodies okay!

Usually, however, they will simply deny that adolescent prostitution is widespread, or that adolescents are much in demand in the first place.

‘How do we know this is true?’ will come the query from the pro-prostitution lobby. It is not a query in the genuine sense of the word. A real query seeks an answer. This query seeks to obscure the same answer it purports to be seeking.

This will seem strange and confusing to some people. It is neither strange nor confusing to me; I’ve been exposed to the tactics of the pro-prostitution lobby for too long to be surprised or confused by these sorts of seemingly tangled and nonsensical tactics. What people need to understand is that they are not nonsensical. These are obscurest policies and they are purposeful and predictable, and when you understand their purpose you will have no problem predicting them too.

Their purpose is consistently the same; it is to deny and refute the sick and twisted nature of what actually goes on in prostitution. The truth they don’t want to you know is that men who pay for sex will most often opt to pay for a fifteen-year-old over a seventeen-year-old, a seventeen-year-old over a nineteen-year-old, a nineteen-year-old over a twenty-one-year-old, and so on and so forth.

Now, let me be very clear about this – I will be called a liar for having asserted the above. It will be said that I am trying to demonise punters, that I am telling lies about their preferences and proclivities. I wish I was. In my first year in prostitution, when I was fifteen-years-old, I was used by countless hundreds of men; I truly couldn’t say how many. I saw up to ten men a day so you may do the maths for yourself (the thoughts of doing that calculation disturbs me). As I stated in my Examiner article back in February, men were so obviously aroused by my youth it made them climax very quickly, so I soon learned to tell them how old I was in order to shorten the whole ordeal. I made it a policy; it was one of the first things I said when I got into the car – not that I needed to bring up the subject because it was usually one of the first questions asked of me.

In all those hundreds of men, one man, just ONE, turned his van around and brought me back to where he’d found me.

So yes, those who advocate for legalised or decriminalised prostitution will do their damnedest to obscure the truth about the high commercial value placed on young bodies in prostitution, all the while squawking ‘Where’s the evidence? Where’s the evidence?’ – like some kind of belligerent and demented parrot, with all the repetitiveness and severe comprehension issues you’d expect. All beak and no brains, in other words.

This is to be expected; of course the pro-prostitution lobby don’t want you to know that girls who are post-puberty by only a year or two are routinely lusted after, sought out, highly prized and then abused for enough years ‘till they’ve lost much of their commercial value. If that was widely known, it would do a great deal of damage to the autonomous, sexually-liberated, empowerment fantasy depiction they are consistently trying to peddle.

As for ‘Where’s the evidence?’ – I don’t need to ask that question. When I was a fifteen-year-old prostitute I was FAR more in-demand than I ever was as a twenty-two-year-old, even though at twenty-two I was slim, pretty, and an extremely youthful woman; but therein lay the problem. I was a woman.

There is huge emphasis placed on the commercial value of youth in prostitution. ‘The evidence’ is in every brothel and red-light zone in the land, and I know that because I lived the evidence.

A good blog post typifying a particular ‘staid’ type of sex worker who happened to start working out of necessity early from environmental issues, but has somehow remained in the field by choice while not liking the field too much. Perhaps some personal issues about being denied other opportuunities when younger. @FreeIrishWoman seems to enjoy the sense of indignation working as a sex worker and who knows in some twisted manner, gains strength at the cutting at the conscience of her clients one can read from the writing. The ethical hirers who do want 100% consensual and a clear conscience should give this particular worker a skip. The ‘mean’ lot who gravitate from morality to desire from religious probably, would doubtless be twice attracted. While sex would be available, sex positivism is not to be found here!

Decriminalising prostitution could mean better safety and improved relations with police for sex workers. A series of gang attacks on brothels in east London has triggered calls for changes to the prostitution laws after victims who reported knifepoint robberies said they ended up being threatened with prosecution. A police investigation has been launched as senior Labour and Conservative members of the London assembly and the English Collective of Prostitutes allege that violent crime is being given a lower priority than less serious sex offences.

The attacks highlight the growing debate over calls for New Zealand’s pioneering decriminalisation of sex work to be considered – an approach recently supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers. What is said by sex workers to be a spate of robberies – involving cash and jewellery – coincides with an increase in police raids on east London addresses being used as brothels before the 2012 London Olympics.

The first address targeted was in Barking, east London, on 6 December. A video showing five men apparently breaking into another house in the area being used by sex workers is also being studied by officers. The women who made the first complaint allege they recognise some of the gang members from the YouTube clip. In a third attack, at a different address, a woman who worked as a maid at a brothel is alleged to have been raped by the gang. None of the victims there reported the offence for fear of being charged by officers with living off the proceeds of prostitution; the police say they are so far unaware of this incident.

The ECP said changes to the law, in response to fears over the forcible trafficking of foreign sex workers into Britain, have made it more difficult for women to work together in houses for safety. A letter of complaint sent by Niki Adams, a leading ECP activist who works with Legal Action for Women, to the borough police commander in Barking last month, said the way the investigation into the first incident had been pursued had discouraged “sex workers from reporting attacks”. The letter continued: “The 6 December attack was at knifepoint and the women felt they had to try and protect themselves. They think the assailants may well be the same people who have robbed them before, who have got away with it, and so have returned and become more violent as they have got bolder.

“Targeting women for prosecution in this way undermines any attempts to catch those who attack and exploit sex workers … We are receiving reports of incidents where women have been attacked and their attackers have told them brazenly that they know women won’t dare go to the police.” Adams believes there may have been as many as 20 attacks in the area over the past two years. The Metropolitan police confirmed it was aware of the 6 December attack and the YouTube video and is investigating whether the attacks are linked. “We can confirm that we were called to an alleged incident of aggravated burglary at an address in Victoria Road, Barking,” a statement said.

“Patrolling officers arrived at the scene and were quickly accompanied by scene of crime officers and detectives from Barking and Dagenham CID. Detectives also visited the venue on a further occasion to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. “Unfortunately, those at the address were unwilling to substantiate the allegation or further assist with the investigation despite a number of attempts for them to do so. The case remains under investigation and should any further information come to light it will of course be vigorously pursued.” The force said “a notice has been served to the registered owner of the venue in Victoria Road under the auspices of section 33a of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. The notice formally notified the recipient that they were liable to prosecution should the premises in Victoria Road remain in use as a brothel”. Referring to the YouTube video, the police said: “We are looking to see if the attacks are linked. Officers take any such reports extremely seriously and actively encourage all members of the community, particularly those who may be vulnerable to such incidents, to come forward and contact police. “Officers at Barking and Dagenham work hard to ensure that the borough remains a safe place for all residents. The welfare of victims remains our primary concern and we acknowledge that some members of the community are more vulnerable and susceptible to crime. “We strive to encourage and support female victims and to assist us further we are in the process of launching a bespoke multi-agency victim care service. This will see female victims receiving the best possible support and will include fast-track referrals to housing and health professionals as well as Safer Neighbourhood reassurance intervention.”

Prostitution itself is not illegal but associated activities – such as kerb crawling, placing advertising cards in phoneboxes and working in premises with more than one person available for paid sex – are outlawed.

Last November Simon Byrne, Acpo’s lead officer on prostitution and sexual exploitation, suggested there was a need for a fresh look at the legal balance. Then deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester, Byrne is in the process of moving to the Met as assistant commissioner. “There is a great amount of academic research available, much of which supports the view that an alternative approach is needed,” he wrote on his official Acpo blog. “An example would be the decriminalisation and regulation of brothels in Australia and New Zealand, not an answer to all of the related issues but certainly a solution to some.

“More of those involved in sex work in Australia and New Zealand can now access health services with ease, whilst maintaining more personal security in an emotive area for policing.”

Another proponent of reform is Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London assembly. “The law is framed so as to put women [sex workers] into the most vulnerable position,” he said. “The changes brought in by the last government seemed to [be derived from] the view that every single worker in the sex trade was trafficked. “People are not willing to come forward over these attacks. When they report them, the women themselves have had action taken against them. I’m compiling a report on the problem for Boris Johnson.”

Len Duvall, the leader of the Labour group at the London assembly, said: “We need to examine in greater detail information and case studies from those countries that have sought to legalise prostitution, including the model put forward by New Zealand, especially if it provides a degree of protection for sex workers and reduces crimes associated with prostitution.

“Where brothels have not posed a problem to the wider community and there has been no evidence of sex trafficking, I have heard evidence that the police have taken an inconsistent and heavy-handed approach in dealing with sex workers. There is also evidence that crimes against sex workers are being ignored.”

Earlier this month, Sheila Farmer, a sex worker who operated with other women out of shared premises, had charges of brothel-keeping against her dismissed at Croydon crown court. The Crown Prosecution Service said there had been no change in enforcement policy; the unexpected failure of a witness to appear led to the charge being withdrawn. Farmer said she had chosen to work with other women for safety because she had been attacked previously when working alone.

Nigel Richardson, the solicitor who represented her, said he was aware of another case in Surrey where women had reported an attack on their flat from a rival operation. “They were visited by two men who threatened the women and were pouring petrol around the place,” he said.

“My client called the police. Officers intially took the attack very seriously but eventually arrested my client. The men were never brought to book for an assault but my client was prosecuted for running a brothel.”

Tim Barnett, the British-born former New Zealand MP who pushed through his adopted country’s decriminalisation legislation in 2003, was in London before Christmas where he briefed Boff and Duvall. “We said let’s make the law the best to minimise harm,” he said at the time. “We set up a review of the legislation. A number of people said the number of sex workers would rise.

“So we reviewed it after five years in 2008. The review didn’t find any increase and there was an improvement in the relationship with the police. Sex workers were using their rights under the legislation to deal with poor-quality brothel owners or clients who had been behaving abusively.”

Think deeper and not be influenced by the agenda laden NPPs . . . this is NOT to be used as ‘proof’ of support of rape. This is the offense that might cause rape . . .

ARTICLE 16

NHS doctors to be forced to work weekends for the first time in push for improved seven-day a week care – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 15:45 GMT, 16 December 2012 | UPDATED: 23:19 GMT, 16 December 2012

Oupatients appointments and surgical procedures could be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays for the first time
The shake up is part of plans by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the new NHS Commissioning Board

Seven days: Sir Bruce Keogh plans to introduce seven day working to the NHS

Doctors could be forced to work at weekends under plans to create a health service with supermarket-style opening hours.

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS’s medical director, said that patients, like shoppers, should be entitled to the same quality of service on Saturday and Sunday as during the week.

He said it was no longer acceptable for hospitals and GPs’ surgeries to operate for the convenience of their staff at the expense of patients and that clinics and day case operations should be available seven days a week.

It should also be possible to get weekend hospital appointments for scans and GPs should provide slots to treat patients at weekends, he said.

The proposal is to be considered by the NHS Commissioning Board in an effort to improve access to healthcare.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘Our system has been based around providing as good a working environment as you can for the people who work in the health service, which isn’t necessarily matched with what the people who want services have.

‘If you wanted a day case operation, and you didn’t want to take a day off work, why can’t you have it on a Saturday or Sunday?’

‘Tesco have had to go through this – it was a complex issue for them – we will need to look at the terms and conditions or service of people.’

He added that having empty clinics and operating theatres on a Saturday and Sunday is a waste of NHS resources.

Research by the board found that a patient admitted to hospital on a Sunday was 16 per cent more likely to die than if they were admitted on a Wednesday.

Keogh can introduce the changes and implement financial rewards and penalties to ensure that hospitals follow the guidelines.

Contract changes: Many medical professionals will have to work Saturdays and Sundays for the first time

The plans will no doubt anger doctors who will be keen to protect their current working hours.

Medical professionals will not receive any extra money for working weekends but will be given days off in the week instead.

The proposals will be fully outlined in the NHS Commissioning Board’s first planning guidance which will detail how health funds will be spent ahead and which will be released on Tuesday.

The British Medical Association (BMA) last night rejected the idea that that the medical profession could learn from private firms such as Tesco but it was ‘open’ to discussing seven day working.

How to charge for medical treatment.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Try this. Instead of all doctors having Saturdays and Sundays off, some doctors could have Mondays and Tuesdays off, then the overlap from different shift doctors should cover everything.

Day shift should focus on geriatrics and paediatrics (adult people working will put off visits to nighttime and will not visit during the day) while evening shift will be more popular for the adults. Midnight shift should have the least staff (most people sleeping), though everyone not of the above groups might visit, emergency services from racers gettti8ng into accidents and drunks getting into fights will make up the most of this shift. The fact that the one can get medical aid 24/7 makes for a safer feeling in any district overall.

ARTICLE 17

Is this the end of paper banknotes? Plastic version could be in your pocket in just three years – by Rebecca Evans – PUBLISHED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012 | UPDATED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012

Overhaul could see environmentally-friendly notes introduced from 2015
Have proved a success since being introduced in Australia in 1988
Plastic lasts much longer and are more hygienic but more expensive to make

Plastic banknotes are set to be introduced in Britain, replacing the paper money used for more than 300 years.

The radical overhaul could see the more durable, waterproof and harder-to-counterfeit polymer sterling notes in circulation within three years.

The Bank of England has put out a £1billion tender from 2015 for the printing of notes at its press in Debden, Essex.

Paper money could be replaced within three years after being used for more than three centuries

Part of this process demands that bidders are able to cope with the change from paper to plastic from the start of the contract.

Since 2003, the contract has been held by De La Rue – one of only two makers of polymer notes.

The company, which prints more than 150 currencies, has just produced new plastic banknotes for the Pacific island of Fiji.

Plastic notes were first introduced in Australia in 1988 as a measure against counterfeiting.

They have proved a success, and are apparently particularly popular with surfers who are able to keep money in their pockets without it disintegrating.

Other countries to issue polymer notes include New Zealand, Romania, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Vietnam. In Northern Ireland, a plastic fiver was introduced in 1999 to mark the Millennium.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon has already said plastic notes were being looked at as a possibility to replace paper money

Plastic notes last much longer than cotton fibre-based paper ones. For instance, an Australian $5 bill lasts about 40 months, against six months for a £5 note.

Polymer notes are more hygienic as they absorb fewer bacteria, harder to tear or crease – making them easier for vending machines – and waterproof, even able to survive being put in the washing machine.

A key feature is a clear window, which normally contains an ‘optical variable device’ that splits light into its component colours and is extremely hard to counterfeit. Plastic notes can also contain holograms.

They are also more environmentally friendly as fewer need to be produced and they can be recycled.

However, they are considerably more expensive to produce and would create an initial cost as ATMs and vending machines would have to be adapted to accept them.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon had already revealed it was investigating the possibility of polymer or plastic-coated banknotes.
‘Today I’m going to make some £20 notes out of this old plastic washing-up bottle’

It is understood that the Bank will initially introduce lower denominations, such as the fiver, which are in wider use so become dog-eared more rapidly.

De La Rue’s chief executive Tim Cobbold said: ‘If you think about the life of a banknote, it takes quite a hammering.

‘It’s being folded, it’s being crunched, it’s in and out of wallets and it could be in the wet or dry.’

But financial expert David Buik, of the retail and trading services firm Cantor Index, believes the conversion to plastic notes should not be rushed.

‘I think it’s something that needs to be more carefully thought out,’ he said.

‘Money laundering is a huge problem and if the security measures introduced could be used to make notes more traceable, then that would be very good.

‘But it needs to be applied internationally, the major countries all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.’

A spokesman for the Bank of England said: ‘No definite decisions have been taken yet but the Bank is considering all options.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Paper 300 years? Try precious metals 3000 or more years. Barter possible more than 30,000 . . . Parallel currencies in PM used in the manner of barter should put an end to the plastic note b.s.. Make your own localised currency citizens! Stop ceding economic control to central national banks.

Truth By Consensus – How To Control Our Thinking – by Zen Gardner – Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Funny how this works. People actually think they can arrive at the truth by averaging what they hear. Seriously. That’s how most people are taught to think. I get this argument all the time. It totally explains the power of the mass media. Just think about this dynamic. How do people arrive at conclusions? What information or lack thereof are they deriving them from? Pretty stark reality if you’re willing to look it in the eyes. People are incredibly similar in their outlook and understandings. And hence behaviors. Incredibly so. Like we’re following a script. Look at yourself. How you dress, the expressions you use, what you’re into. No matter what segment of society you’re living in, it’s pretty freaky. I remember when I decided to grow out my facial hair and looking in the mirror thinking, “Am I following some meme being broadcast by these bastards?”

Paranoid? Totally. It’s the only way on this planet. Completely healthy. If you’re not, you’re not awake yet. Truth is Never Popular. While a defined consensus gets established and reaffirms the status quo, “contrary” eddies of thought and realization make their way through the public psyche. These are carefully ferreted out by the watchdog media cabal and portrayed as “fringe” ideas and “conspiracy theories” of course. Carefully and dutifully packaged and sublimated into a negative subconscious arena for the mainstream unawakened. Anything contrary is now anathema, resented; spuriously thrown overboard as wing nut conspiracy talk. Typical. And more importantly…very effective and very efficient.

Getting To the Point

I’ll take Truth over BS fairy tales any day of eternity. No matter the pain and seeming loss of emotional or otherwise investments, bring on the Truth. 9/11 is always the standard reminder of how duped the world can be. Plain as the nose on your face those towers were brought down by some sort of exotic and carefully planned out demolition technique, but what the hell. No one cares. Or very few. At least that’s the portrayal we get and it seems to hold way too much water. People are even afraid to discuss the subject. That’s when you know society has been seriously hemmed in and headed for dismemberment. As obvious as it is, the Truth can just be right there without people being able to see it. It’s the condition of our “race”…we want to believe what we want and will cloak it in “positive thinking” or “idealism” or imposed bottom line security needs whenever we can for peace and comfort. Very, very sad from the Truth perspective, but oh so understandable. Blindness until awakened. What a tale. But behold the awakening in spite of all this!

Enter Psycho-Sexual Addiction

This psychological pandering we’re witnessing is simply a ploy to keep the masses asleep. The populace has been duped, hypnotized, seduced. It no longer can contain, maintain or control itself. It must have the savories and goodies of the system or it will go berserk. This addiction is firmly established. Football, advertising, game shows, reality dramas, zombie and vampire horror and sci-fi movies while sucking down addictive, poisonous foods………”Please bring it on! We want more! We want another reality, not our own!” Scantily dressed young girls, sculpted effeminized men, cross sexual weirdness of every type and genre…. …bring it on. Chaos is our new middle name–in fact, their manipulated shifting world is apparently our New Normal. ‘Chaos is the new normal’ is as cognitively dissonant as the ‘war on terrorism’. Orwell, you must be howling!

Summary

Know what you “believe” about not only their false structure, but our true reality, to the point it’s not a belief. Please know each of those as facts…not an emotional extension of some hope or sense of idealism. Be sure you’re deciding for yourself and not following anything unconsciously. We’re not used to that kind of truly independent thought, having been taught all our lives to just follow, obey and repeat, so it’s a lot of work and a set of muscles that have to be developed. You’ll see what I mean as it goes along. Affirming our conscious awakening in spirit, word and deed is our primary purpose and most potent weapon. Not only against the usurpers and the ignorance and darkness that seems to rule our current paradigm, but for the development and realization of the true conscious reality that is there to be expressed into this dimension. Get busy being and doing what you know is right and the rest will follow, I guarantee. Because that’s how it works. And do it in love. If we can wake up, anybody can. Love, Zen

“If you’re not free to follow life’s signs and live in synchronicity, you’re not free.” – Zen

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . It must have the savories and goodies of the system or it will go berserk. . . . Chaos is our new middle name–in fact, their manipulated shifting world is apparently our New Normal. . . .

Actually savouries or goodies MUST not be considered such. Chaos is not ‘our’ new middle name, Chaos is not mainstream, Chaos is going to take a proper place WITHOUT punishment. There is no way ‘Chaos’ can co-opt you unless you are Chaotically inclined, and given the need of Chaos in evolution per se, I’d say Chaos is the very most important thing to ANY species which wants to move on, even as older structures become increasingly exotic and rarefied to the point of gaining value (in retarded areas of the 3rd world, the rare are villified much like LGBT, in the right places, the rare’d be exotic and invested in to ensure survival . . . ).

Religion would have taken the role of rare, but the overproliferation and low quality of followers, obvious internal rot and abusive nature of religion says that religion is already over-proliferated and people being subconsciously sick of religion, acting whatever in the only way they can, to sabotage religion much like pedo-priests protesting celibacy, Islamists protesting no alcohol and no pork rules by being violent, Buddhists acquiring car collections and much trappings of wealth and gold all around the temple (Temples to rampant-Capitalism and Greed), even as Buddha said to not be materialistic, can we see that the highest ranked in the faith actually do the most opposite? I wonder if I do enough ‘opposite’ I’d be the Ecclesiarch Primifex of the Planet . . .

. . . So get busy being and doing what you know is right and the rest will follow, I guarantee. Because that’s how it works. . . .

Don’t accidentally co-opt what is already known as your own!

@Zen appears to be quite fused with whatever mass mind or community hive @Zen is from (@Zen is less hive minded overall but still enough to identify that the mindset is still hivelike). Truth By Consensus problems as describe above are however correct. Subversive article with a good NLP positive article that disparages ‘Chaos’? Hard to say, but whatever we gravitate to, that is what we truly are, everything else is just nonsense, regardless of whatever laws or social trends, though spaces appropriate to size and facilities must be available to all and sundry in either case.

BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) — China has expressed serious concern and firm opposition to a U.S. bill that regards China’s territory as under the authority of a U.S.-Japan security pact.

At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, “The Chinese side expresses serious concern and firm opposition to the U.S. Senate’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which involves the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets.”

In the bill, which the U.S. Senate passed last week, the United States reaffirmed that it “takes no position” on the ultimate sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands. However, the bill notes that Japan has the rights of administration over the territory and that “unilateral actions of a third party” would not affect its position.

Hong said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets have always been the inherent territory of China since ancient times, and China has undisputed sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

According to the U.S. bill, any armed attack “in the territories under the administration of Japan” would be met under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.

Hong called the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan as a “product of the Cold War era”, saying it should not go beyond bilateral scopes, nor undermine the interests of a third party.

Hong said the U.S. side has repeatedly stated that it will not take sides on territory disputes between China and Japan.

He said the U.S. side “should not send out signals that conflict with each other.” He expressed the hope that the U.S. side would “proceed from the general situation of peace and stability of the region”, “keep its words” and “do more things that are conducive to peace and stability in the region.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The islands were part of Chinese territory with an indigenous people that accepted vassalship under the Chinese Emperor until the 8 Foreign Powers invasion and later Japanese expansion in WW1 and 2. USA should understand that sovereignty loss during war cannot have legal continuity under occupiers or aggressors when the war ends. How would USA like for the Native Ameri-Indians to kick them back to Europe?

ARTICLE 2

Ooh Baby It’s a Wild World – by Daniel J. Flynn on 11.30.12 @ 6:08AM

It’s a jungle out there for transanimals.

The humans called Dennis Avner “Stalking Cat.” His kind referred to him as “meow.”

The cat-like Avner, who held the Guinness Book of World Records mark for body modifications — including a bifurcated lip, extensive tiger-stripe facial tattooing, surgically pointed ears, and silicone injections in the cheeks, chin, and forehead — died earlier this month.

The human authorities suspect he killed himself. I suspect humans, threatened that one of their own had defected to the cat community, killed him.

Human nature, alien to Stalking Cat, remains quite familiar with suicide. The dearth of documented cases of self-inflicted felicide raises suspicions. Only an Ace Ventura could definitively answer this whodunit. The one certainty here is that it’s a jungle out there for a person who realizes he, she, or it is an animal trapped in a human’s body.

Dennis Avner never found acceptance among mankind as a felid despite the plastic surgeries, the tattoos, and the silicone injections. He was, in a loose sense, a real-life Philip Nolan — a manimal without a species.

Biology is the new racism. The phobia against transanimals recalls the societal obstinacy regarding transgenders. We exiled them to the “third bathroom,” inscribed pesky reminders of their physiology on their driver’s licenses, and imprisoned them with criminals of the opposite gender. Some men still won’t consider dating a woman who was born a “man” — whatever that antiquated designation means. One surmises that Stalking Cat encountered similar prejudices among potential dating partners of all sexes and species.

Society’s rejection of transanimals results in their rejection of themselves. When a man splits his tongue, amputates his arms, and fuses his legs together to realize his inner serpent, society calls him crazy, a freak, and troubled — instead of what he is: a snake. We will become as sane as they are only when we finally see transanimals as they see themselves.

All this recalls the dark ages when we denied that one biologically born a male who surgically remade herself as female was as much a woman as your mother. Dennis Avner was as much a cat as Chastity Bono is a man.

Yet, many landlords won’t rent to transanimals. Their contracts stipulate “no pets.” Restaurants still post “no dogs allowed” signs. Public parks demand that you keep animals on a leash. Dennis Avner served in the Navy. But he did so in the form of a human being. The ban on transspecies soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines persists despite the obvious intimidation factor that a battalion of tiger-men would impose on the enemy.

What was Stalking Cat supposed to make of the many restrictions, formal and informal, that civilization imposed upon his wild spirit?

Transanimals face a gross double standard vis-à-vis transgenders. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decrees that the Affordable Care Act forbids discrimination against transgendered patients within federally funded programs. U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf, a Reagan appointee, has ordered Massachusetts taxpayers to fund gender reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, an inmate convicted of murdering his wife after she caught him in her clothes. Sixteen state governments find a compelling interest in forbidding employers from taking into account a man’s metamorphosis into a woman, or vice versa, when hiring and firing.

By what logic do these states, the federal judge, and HHS, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, then permit discrimination based on animal identity?

In fits of self-absolution, tormentors conveniently maintain that the extinction of Stalking Cat, along with a transgender suicide rate 25 times the general population’s, proves that self-mutilation begins a slow self-destruction that ends in one’s ultimate destruction. Society has dysphoria over sexual, and species, dysphoria. We lose some of our humanity when we don’t extend it to gharials, capybaras, and narwhals. Cats are people too.

Mourn Dennis Avner’s tragic demise. But celebrate the miracle of his longevity. While most house cats survive to about 15, Stalking Cat lived to 54. If you last that many years more, you will surely meet others of his kind.

The bodies of four people who had been shot to death were found face-down Sunday outside a suburban Southern California home that apparently served as an unlicensed boarding house, authorities said.

Los Angeles police were seeking a motive for the attacks at the house in Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley.

Lt. Terri Brinkmeyer said a 911 call led police to the large house around 4:30 a.m. Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the bodies of two men and two women were found face-down on a side yard of the property.

Investigators were questioning several people who were on the property at the time of the shooting, but no one has been detained or arrested.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents the area, said the house was split into several units for rent. He said at least a dozen people lived in the house, which contained several bedrooms, kitchenettes and mattresses on the floor.

“It appears from the nature of things that this was an unlicensed boarding facility,” Englander said from the crime scene. He noted that one bedroom was only accessible through a window.

The house was on street lined with houses, schools and places of worship.

“This is a very safe neighborhood. This type of thing doesn’t normally happen here,” Englander said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Places of worship is the keyword here perhaps. Fundo alert. Or religion contrived sense of entitlement that caused strife with possible secularists.

CHICAGO — The now familiar term “Asperger’s disorder” is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But “dyslexia” and other learning disorders remain.

The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation’s psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.

Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association’s new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.

This diagnostic guide “defines what constellations of symptoms” doctors recognize as mental disorders, said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor. More important, he said, it “shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care.”

Olfson was not involved in the revision process. The changes were approved Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., by the psychiatric association’s board of trustees.

The aim is not to expand the number of people diagnosed with mental illness, but to ensure that affected children and adults are more accurately diagnosed so they can get the most appropriate treatment, said Dr. David Kupfer. He chaired the task force in charge of revising the manual and is a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

One of the most hotly argued changes was how to define the various ranges of autism. Some advocates opposed the idea of dropping the specific diagnosis for Asperger’s disorder. People with that disorder often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lack social skills. Some who have the condition embrace their quirkiness and vow to continue to use the label.

And some Asperger’s families opposed any change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services.

But the revision will not affect their education services, experts say.

The new manual adds the term “autism spectrum disorder,” which already is used by many experts in the field. Asperger’s disorder will be dropped and incorporated under that umbrella diagnosis. The new category will include kids with severe autism, who often don’t talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.

Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich., who has four sons with various forms of autism, said Saturday she welcomes the change. Her boys all had different labels in the old diagnostic manual, including a 14-year-old with Asperger’s.

“To give it separate names never made sense to me,” Gibson said. “To me, my children all had autism.”

Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won’t affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.

People with dyslexia also were closely watching for the new updated doctors’ guide. Many with the reading disorder did not want their diagnosis to be dropped. And it won’t be. Instead, the new manual will have a broader learning disorder category to cover several conditions including dyslexia, which causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words.

The trustees on Saturday made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several work groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.

The revised guidebook “represents a significant step forward for the field. It will improve our ability to accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders,” Dr. David Fassler, the group’s treasurer and a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said after the vote.

The shorthand name for the new edition, the organization’s fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is DSM-5. Group leaders said specifics won’t be disclosed until the manual is published but they confirmed some changes. A 2000 edition of the manual made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.

Olfson said the manual “seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 … there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders.”

Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York who was on the psychiatric group’s autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger’s in the old manual would be included in the new diagnosis.

One reason for the change is that some states and school systems don’t provide services for children and adults with Asperger’s, or provide fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.

Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said small studies have suggested the new criteria will be effective. But she said it will be crucial to monitor so that children don’t lose services.

Other changes include:

—A new diagnosis for severe recurrent temper tantrums — disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Critics say it will medicalize kids’ who have normal tantrums. Supporters say it will address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings and affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums.

—Eliminating the term “gender identity disorder.” It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender. But many activists believe the condition isn’t a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with “gender dysphoria,” which means emotional distress over one’s gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

People are weird and different. The Victorian Era destroyed LGBT and butchered half the world’s indigenous cultures, many of which were LGBT friendly. The Victorian Era also propagated Christianity, which subsumed and destroyed many native faiths as well as subverted many world citizens into colonial mindsets that still persist this day. The English were expelled from the USA, sadly the Christian faith still is afflicting many populations worldwide. The English incidentally were the Angles, a group of GERMANIC outcasts that murdered the Celtic and Nordic cultures of the Isles, occupied thier lands, and butchered all the way through Africa, India and later China destroying lives, cultures and native religions for mere ‘paganism’ (those who didn’t want to belive in ‘god’ were heathens and ‘soulless’ needed to be murdered in those days . . . no end.

Onion editor: Tricking China has a “certain delightfulness”
A Chinese news site takes an Onion satire for a real story
The Onion declares North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “sexiest man alive”
People’s Daily Online runs portions of the Onion story and 55 photos of Kim

(CNN) — China, as one Twitter user wrote Tuesday, has been fooled by the “mysterious Western art of satire.”

The merciless comedy website The Onion has declared North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the “sexiest man alive for 2012.” And it appears China’s People’s Daily Online has taken the story seriously.

The Chinese story reprinted satirical comments describing Kim’s “air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side,” his “impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and,” the story says, “that famous smile.”
A Chinese state-run site was fooled Tuesday by a satirical story that declared North Korea\’s Kim Jong Un the \
A Chinese state-run site was fooled Tuesday by a satirical story that declared North Korea’s Kim Jong Un the “sexiest man alive.”

The story on People’s Daily Online on Tuesday illustrates the mutual backscratching that China and North Korea exercise through their government-run media. The incident also shows foreign media outlets’ difficulty in navigating The Onion’s brand of satire.

The Chinese website had underscored its story by including its own 55-page photo gallery to accompany the text, which was published in both English and Chinese. But the pages and the images were no longer available Wednesday.

A woman responding to a call Wednesday to the office of the website said it was “impossible that the People’s Daily will quote from any unreliable media — we do verify our news and sources.”

The woman, who declined to identify herself, noted that the item had been removed.

The People’s Daily Online has a separate office from the print version of the Chinese Communist Party’s main newspaper.

Tracy said he’s not surprised when legitimate news sites fall for his high-level tomfoolery, but this was the first time The Onion had named a “sexiest man alive.” “We knew it would get a response,” he said “but we didn’t expect it would get life from abroad.”

A satirical post on The Onion congratulated the People’s Daily for its coverage.

The site “has served as one of the Onion’s Far East bureaus for quite some time, and I believe their reportage as of late has been uncommonly fine, as well as politically astute,” said The Onion’s Grant Jones in a e-mail statement. “May our felicitous business association continue for centuries to come.”

Yes. Again. If this scenario sounds familiar it’s because The Onion is no stranger to fooling government-run news outlets.

In September, an Onion satire fooled Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. Fars published an Onion story claiming that a Gallup poll found that rural white Americans preferred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over President Barack Obama.

On the Chinese microblog Sina Weibo, netizens made their own teasing comments about People’s Daily.

“Foolish foreigners, the party paper was born to be funny,” wrote @sheldon-BaiBai.

“The world was fooled by the People’s Daily, because no Chinese believes this paper,” wrote @Hai_Dao_Wu_Bian.

The Onion never writes its stories with the intention of fooling government agencies, Tracy said. But “it’s great when it happens. We hope it happens more often.”

This prank, he said with obvious glee, may turn out to be the legendary Onion fake story that veterans will talk about for years to come. “We essentially just fooled the government of China.”

CNN’s Jethro Mullen and CY Xu contributed to this report.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Remember the boy who cried wolf? And if this is intended to harrass the foreign media, The Onion is just inviting the Chinese to do the same to foreign media portals. If this becomes rampant, then news on the internet will become rubbish or manipulative unreadable agenda laden nonsesne, and the MSM papers which will still remain propaganda, become more influencial and manipulative of the citizens locally until the dark pre-info-ages take hold again through sheer contrivedness and agenda loaded inaccuracy of articles. The Onion is opening a can of worms that could down all online media or online media accuracy if not careful . . . If the CNN, BBC and Peoples Daily or whatever online media do not remain strictly accurate in reporting, above the fray of b.s., the world will be poorer for the lack of ethics for preference of manipulation to bad ends.

Sometimes a highly individualistic name for a baby is not good news for a kid, says Dean Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah: A new list of popular 2012 baby names includes Siri, Mac, Luna
He says it’s not just celebrities with offbeat baby-naming now; it’s spreading to the rest of us
He says studies show distinctive names can spur teasing and mistreatment
Obeidallah: Parents, think twice on names; it could have long-term effect on your child

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog “The Dean’s Report” and co-director of the upcoming documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy

(CNN) — Siri, Mars, Mac and Luna. I’m not talking Apple products or planetary terms. These are baby names. And not just any baby names but ones that have jumped in popularity in 2012, according to Baby Center.com’s just released list.

Baby Siri? Seriously, who would name their bundle of joy after a frustrating Apple product that hardly ever works? And speaking of Apple (see daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin,) that name moved up a whopping 585 places on the list of names for girls born in 2012. So there could conceivably be a family out there with a daughter named Apple and a son named Siri. (Hope that entitles the family to a discount on an iMac.)

There was a time when bizarre baby naming was something only celebrities did to their kids (as if being the child of a celebrity wasn’t challenging enough). There’s Beyonce and Jay Z’s Blue Ivy, Penn Jillette’s son, Moxie Crimefighter, Bono’s daughter Memphis Eve, actor Jason Lee’s son Pilot Inspektor, and the list goes on and on.

But now this “condition” is apparently spreading to the rest of us. In addition to the offbeat names above, 2011 saw babies sporting such names as: Moo, Draper, Graceland and Tequila.

There are even media reports that this past weekend some parents allegedly named their newborn daughter, Hashtag. That one may turn out to be an Internet hoax, but after last year’s story of a child in Egypt being named Facebook (in praise of the role Facebook played in the Egyptian revolution), we can’t be too far from babies named Retweet and Spam Blocker anyway. It truly is only a matter of time until you meet a kid named DVR or Playstation 3.
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Apparently some parents believe that giving their child a jaw-dropping name will make him or her more distinctive. News flash: it’s not the name that makes your child stand out, it’s his or her achievements.

While I don’t want to rain on creativity, let’s be honest — these weird names are more about parents showing off their “cleverness” than about finding a name that fits the child. It’s not like the parents got to know the child first for a few months and then said, “You know this baby really is a little Siri.”
Beyonce, Jay-Z welcome baby Blue Ivy
Jolie: We are all Malala

And do these parents even consider that a baby’s name can cause consequences for the child that the parents never imagined, and in many areas of the child’s life? When I reflect upon my own name, I realize that my life could have been far different if my parents had followed their initial instincts when naming me.

My Palestinian father wanted to name me Saladin after the famous Muslim leader, while my Sicilian mother wanted to name me Dino. Instead they compromised on Dean.

Growing up in North Jersey, Dean was not a common name. But it actually made me feel different in a good way being the only Dean in my class. And even today in looking at the list of baby names for 2012, I was actually happy that Dean was not in the top 100.

Still, the truth is, if I’d been named Dino, I would have certainly been viewed as more ethnic by teachers, potential employers and co-workers. I would have been required to continually overcome cultural stereotypes.

And if I’d been named the very Arabic Saladin Obeidallah, you could just imagine all the “fun” I would have had in post-9/11 America. I would have likely volunteered for “random” security checks at the airport to make it easier for all involved or simply got used to taking the bus cross country.

But there’s a difference between a name that isn’t overly common and naming your child after your favorite appliance. A name is a big part of a kid’s identity. It can trigger impressions about a child even before we meet him or her — a particular problem among the closed-minded of the world, but this is the world your child will have to navigate.

For example, studies have found that children with names that linguistically sound like they come from a lower socioeconomic status are less likely to be recommended by school officials for gifted classes and actually more likely to be labeled as learning disabled.

Other research has revealed that boys with feminine sounding names — such as Shannon or Ashley — have had more disciplinary problems in school because of their response to teasing. Still other studies have found a link between how much people like their own names and their level of self-esteem.

So, parents, keep in mind that your choice of name will have a lasting impact on your child — both for good and bad. And if you insist on picking a bizarre name for the baby, then I propose that your child be empowered to rename you with any name he or she chooses. At least then it’s fair that a child named Hashtag has parents named Angry Birds and YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In the past there were in some cultures NAMING CEREMONIES AT ADULTHOOD. The child would choose a name LATER, and all children knew their names when young were TEMPORARY and that parents chose those names. Sometimes what the child did that was most unique would also decide what that child was RENAMED at adulthood. So ‘Hashtag’ away and legalise/normalise name changing at the age of 21. Knowing that names are temporary and chosen by parents, kids would not be affected by teasing because they knew they were going to change that name, or the teasers would not bother to tease knowing the name would also change by then.

Shocked complainant said she would never walk her dog in Oropi Park, New Zealand, again
Andrew Pointon, 47, was charged with offensive behaviour for his naked runs
But appeal judge agrees that naked body by itself is not offensive

The right to go jogging in the nude has been upheld by the High Court in New Zealand.

Andrew Lyall Pointon, 47, was wearing only a pair of shoes when he was spotted by a woman while running at 8.30am in a forest near Tauranga in August last year.

She called police and he was arrested during another nude run.

Pointon was charged with offensive behaviour and found guilty in Tauranga District Court last December.

An appeal was thrown out in June, but a second appeal has just been upheld by Justice Paul Heath in the High Court at Tauranga.

‘If it was [offensive] then God wouldn’t have given us genitals,’ Mr Pointon told The Dominion Post.

‘It is a win for all libertarians and a setback for all conservatives in the country.’

The judge, Justice Heath, compared the situation to passing ‘gang members’ walking through the park.

He said: ‘It would not be surprising for a person in the position of the complainant to be concerned and discomforted by their presence, and even to feel threatened.

‘However, on any view, their behaviour would not be regarded as offensive behaviour.

‘Should the sight of a naked man, in the circumstances in which the complainant found herself, be treated any differently? I think not.’

He added that he felt Pointon was ‘a genuine naturist’ who had taken measures to avoid disturbing others – such as choosing a time when children would be unlikely to be on the track.

But Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said he was disappointed and said Justice Heath’s decision shows ‘double standards’.

He asked: ‘Is it okay for someone to streak through his courtroom? He’d be the first one to put them in the cells.’
Picturesque: The jogger was spotted close to Tauranga harbour in New Zealand

Picturesque: The jogger was spotted close to Tauranga harbour in New Zealand

Naturist Mr Pointon said he enjoyed the freedom of not wearing clothes and began running naked about 18 months ago.

The complainant, who was out walking her dog when she spotted Pointon, said she was so offended that she did not wish to ever return to the Oropi Bike Park.

But Pointon lashed out at the woman who complained.

He said: ‘It’s just ludicrous. Has this person got nothing better to do than wasting everyone’s time?

‘All she saw was a naked man running through the bush. It was just a fleeting moment, which has cost us all.

‘It just shows that it was a stupid decision by police to go ahead … and charge me for something totally irrelevant.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Perhaps a nudist’s track to keep the 2 different groups seperate.

ARTICLE 7

A Good Example of Forms and Blogospheres Littered with NLPs : 2012, I am tired – Topic started on 9-12-2012 @ 02:48 AM by TheAlmo – reply posted on 9-12-2012 @ 03:00 AM by xxshadowfaxx

I just want the date to come. Lots of mystery surround it, lots of theories, but no one knows a damn thing.

If anything is going to happen, its going to be something we haven’t seen before. Something the ancients tracked 25000 years ago. No one alive today can possibly know what it is. We don’t even know for sure if we have the right date. All the math is very precise and it seems that dec 21 is certainly a good possibility, but we may be off by hundreds of years. All we can do is wait and see.

Soon you won’t have to worry about it anymore because it is only 12 days away now. Whatever happens, happens, theres nothing anyone can do about it.

Also, its definitely possible to be love. Love is a state of being, and beneath all your problems, all your thoughts, is a state of love. When you can learn to silence the mind, and learn how to move energy through your chakras, you will find yourself in a state of love. It is beautiful to experience. All the people that talk about are trying to tell you something, and most of us ignore it completely. But the answers to all questions truely do lie within us. Once you be love, once you attain that state, you are given knowledge about who you are, what you are, and what your purpose is. You will experience the divine.

Commentator Response

I am tired you guys. Enough. This is insane.

The amount of 2012 topics on ATS and everywhere is staggering. It seems everyone takes a shot at it. Everyone. You guys turned the year 2012 into a prostitute year that everyone can buy and f*** for a while.

The problem is that I go through phases. Sometimes, I just really don’t pay attention at all and I don’t even try to rationalize or criticize the material I am exposed to. Other times, I find myself so angry about it and digging deep to find every logical fallacy there is. You know why this happens to me? Because:

1- My mood changes from time to time
2- The 2012 shower is an everlasting one that never ever stops.

What do you mean if I don’t “embrace” the change I won’t feel anything and December 21 will be just another day?

Can this lunacy get anymore vile and degrading to our intellect? I am sorry, but even the most spiritual practices can be “practicalized” if you know what I mean. You can ask me to actively stop thinking about people that I hate or that I even hate them. I can do that. But what do you mean when you say “Be Love”? How can someone be love? Can you be Batman? A sandwich? I don’t know. Be love? Embrace change? This all reminds me of an incident when I was a kid walking by a public swimming pool and a guy was teaching his 6-ish years old son to swim by saying: maintain your balance… don’t drown.

Yeah… the best thing to say to tell someone who’s drowning: yell at them: don’t drown. dude, not cool, you’re gonna die, maintain your balance. work physics to make it happen.

I am tired of this nonsensical spiritual masturbation.

What about doom and gloom?

Are you gonna tell me where to go? What to do? Or just scream around and run all over the place like a fuc*** moron? What? No place to go? Nothing to do? Where is the warning then? It’s not like you’re gonna say “told you so” later.

I am tired of this. It’s too much. It’s everywhere. Everywhere I go.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Thats the problem with the people. The laws written cause this, so vote for a candidate not of the 1% (plutocrat or political nepotist) or run as candidate yourself if there is no such candidate. Write and ratify laws to distribute national wealth and unused national land (the country belongs to all citizens so why should a handful of GLC cronies get everything, even the land and wealth from natural resources belong to the people and must be shared to reserved for a handful of politicians who can be easily identified if mega-wealthy), and end the raison d’etre for NLP articles. This way there will be enough harmony so that the world need not end, or if the world ends, everyone was happy anyway.

ARTICLE 8

How The Cost of a Degree is Now £100,000 – Posted on December 9, 2012 by Zen-Haven – Author: Paul Gallagher

The true cost of a university degree will rocket to up to £100,000 for today’s students, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Thousands of people currently studying at university will end up paying that amount over their career because of interest charges and other fees – several times the £27,000 or £36,000 in fees that most three- and four-year courses charge.

The landmark figure, revealed in the Government’s own documents, is far higher than the £70,000 in repayments that it was previously thought students would end up paying over their lifetimes. The Government figures confirm that graduates who find well-paid jobs – in finance and law, for example – will be able to save tens of thousands of pounds by paying off their loans more quickly than the vast majority of their counterparts on middle incomes.

Even before they started in September, every student was hit with a hidden charge: for repayment purposes, the total cost of tuition is backdated to day one, meaning that the majority of the 300,000 three-year students and 117,000 four-year students currently studying will graduate with an extra £3,300 or £5,000 bill respectively, according to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) website. Many students will repay up to four times the cost of their tuition during the 30 years following graduation, after which any remaining debt is written off.

Add in other living costs and average student debt is now predicted to hit £53,000 by graduation. Accountants say billions of pounds of student debt will never be repaid, leaving “a massive tax time bomb” for generations to come.

Based on the Government’s figures, almost 300,000 students – 70 per cent of those studying – who started university in the autumn will repay between £65,000 and £85,000, while those in the highest income bracket pay back less because they will start to pay off their debts sooner. About 10 per cent who are in the “squeezed middle” could end up paying back between £85,000 and £100,000. The 20 per cent of graduates with the lowest lifetime earnings (a group dominated by women) will never come close to repaying their fees and the debt will be written off after 30 years.

The Government’s own projections lay out details of what students and graduates would owe at the start of each year in interest and repayment charges. What graduates pay back each month depends on their earnings: 9 per cent of income above £21,000 a year, independent of both the interest rate and the size of the loan. The amount due increases with time because interest is added. A 28-year-old male beginning a three-year course and whose starting salary of £21,000 quickly rises to £60,000 in year four, and is a six-figure salary by year 15, will settle his bill in 13 years, repaying just over £42,000. A woman who earns less than a third of that in her lifetime and who begins work a few years after graduating repays almost £62,000 over 28 years. A woman in her twenties who earns less than £1m in her career and takes time out to have a family will pay back less than £20,000, leaving an unpaid debt of almost £60,000. Scottish students in Scotland have their fees paid, while students in Northern Ireland pay a maximum £3,575 a year tuition.

Peter West, financial director at Portal, a computer company in Bracknell, Berkshire, said: “No one is aware of the long-term implications of this accounting wheeze. Higher education reform is a victimless crime and a massive tax time bomb. The Government has simply shifted all the debt off the accounting sheet for now – but, my God, will it come back and hit us in 30 years’ time.”

Susan Cooper, professor of experimental physics from the University of Oxford, said: “If the £21,000 repayment threshold doesn’t increase with inflation, the requirement for repayment can become much more onerous over the 30-year period. And maybe the 30 years could be increased as well. The higher the costs, the more the Government has to write off 30 years later. One could have wished for a more thorough thinking through of the consequences before being launched into this experiment.”

The University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “The Government rushed through higher fees without properly considering the financial consequences. We warned at the time that fees close to £9,000 a year would be the norm and that the calculations for repayment by graduates were flawed.”

A spokesperson for BIS said: “Extending the write-off period to 30 years was fully costed as part of the whole repayment system. The new system helps reduce the deficit, is affordable and sustainable for the Government, while offering protection for those who may not go on to high-paid employment.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour business spokesman, said: “Students will never forgive this government for hiking up the costs of going to university. This figures show that, as ever, it is middle- and lower-income families who are being hit hardest.”

The NUS president, Liam Burns, added: “It is shocking that politicians treat the potential of a generation before they have even started their working career with such nonchalance.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The problem is that the establishment (or NWO) has already decided which people friendly to the regime of the day will get the top jobs that can actually influence policy or social culture. So even before enrollment or payment, those who are not on the same wavelength of the Education-STUDENT-DEBT-Financiar Complex (nominlly fused with the dominant religious institutions of the region – if these are not insane or hated or indulging in pedophilia) had better not even bother with ‘Education’ and instead learn how to vote and educate others on how to vote. The system is stacked EVEN at education level and hardly neutral. Identify this and act accordingly by refusing to spend anything on education. Free spirits beware, the mob mentality of society comprised with useless eaters only enriches the 1% term limitless plutocrats and political nepotists.

ARTICLE 9

Celebration of the Nudists of the 2010s : Ai Weiwei investigated over nude art – Chinese artist says he is under investigation for spreading pornography, after pictures including One Tiger Eight Breasts

Ai Weiwei is under investigation for spreading pornography, the Chinese artist has said, as the authorities turned their attention from political subversion and tax evasion to online images of nudity.

He said police had questioned his cameraman Zhao Zhao on Thursday over pictures Zhao had taken of the artist. “They clearly told him this is an investigation, now, they are doing on me, on pornography,” Ai told the AFP news agency.

One of the pictures, One Tiger Eight Breasts, shows Ai posing nude on a wooden chair flanked by four naked women who are giggling and smiling.

“Netizens came to take photos with me, so we said why don’t we take nudity photos, then everybody agreed so we did it and they were put on the internet, and that’s it, we forget about it,” Ai said.

This year Ai has been held for 81 days in a secret location, questioned about subversion and then accused of tax evasion and given a fine of 15m yuan. Several of his assistants have been detained for lengthy periods and interrogated about Ai’s political beliefs, business and personal life.

His lawyers say the investigations are politically motivated to silence Ai, who has used his high profile to speak out on police brutality, official corruption and human rights violations.

Police have been reluctant to discuss his case and there has been little or no coverage in most domestic media outlets. But the Communist party newspaper Global Times said on Wednesday that dissidents such as Ai could only exist because of the support of the west.

“For 30 years Ai Weiweis have emerged and fallen. But China has kept rising despite their pessimistic predictions. The real social trend is that they will be eliminated in the rising process of China,” said a comment article in the paper.

Ai has attempted to turn the tables by mounting an internet campaign against his accusers. He says 30,000 people contributed a total of more than 8m yuan to his online appeal for loans to challenge his tax fine.

A pornography or obscenity charge based on the pictures revealed so far is likely to incur ridicule and anger among Ai’s supporters. Many Chinese contemporary artists have appeared naked in their work.

Ai said police had previously questioned him about the images, but he doubted they understood art. “If they see nudity as pornography, then China is still in the Qing dynasty,” he told Associated Press.

Ai Weiwei with EVEN MORE nudists. The CPCC and PLA need not fear this wall of human flesh led by a scruffy semi-geezer, fear is in the mind China!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is not for everyone BUT, this is an acid test of human rights and civil society. Hey frumpOs, if you had the aesthetic, you’d be as sex positive and body confident enough to use nakeness and beauty as weapons to shame the ugliness of society and the establishment instead of attacking nudism and snarking on morality. So stop victimising naked persons, that counts for MALE body parts too . . . so about a decade ago there was this activist who really didn’t know why until now . . . WHOS STILL WRITING TO END APARTHEID . . . Nudism is COURAGE and PETA is not exactly at the level of anti-apartheid activity.

PETA Nudists.

Perhaps Nelson Mandela should visit Ai Weiwei and learn something missed, though this does not make for mainstream just yet but we early birds are the most well loved birds, so see Israeli women have taken a nude group photo to express solidarity with Aliaa Magda Elmahdy . . . and look at non-Muslims getting arrested for Khalwat in Muslim countries. Monyet dan Anjing! Hunga bunga! Bulaklak!

Ladies, if you’re a Lursa or a B’etor everyone will understand why the preference to stay covered is there, BUT no understanding will be offered to those who hate on all of the above people who dare to be nudist or go nude for their cause. Same to the narrow gents. What’s YOUR cause Frumpos? Snarking at people who try to change the world? Who try to end apartheid? Who challenge status quo?

Nudists Nuns in Russia marching against Putin’s 3rd term??? . . .

The more ‘faithful’ they are the more brittle the faith . . . hence the term ‘cracker’ . . . so go hide your daughters and get out your shotguns. (this is intended to remind those without 2nd amendment rights to know how good hillbillies live in the USA, no other reason . . . ). Aight back to surfing porn and drinking horse, pork and beef flavoured beer . . .

Nudists in Paris.

Israeli Nudists for St.Alia.

Pussy Riot – Russia.

Nudist Zones in China (at least zones exist . . .)

This is not a nudist gathering but rather an English advert.

So the next time someone is dressed like this, just keep that mouth shut. Bikini’s are skimpier and even if out of context, nudism is not even sexual activity per se. The clothes on this woman are actually kinda wholesome, even with the neons . . .

mini-ARTICLE 9.5

Woman Has Baby At Upstate New York Zoo : There was no time to get the expectant mother to hospital after she suddenly went into labour on Friday. – 8:33pm UK, Saturday 08 December 2012 – Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York

A New York state zoo has had a surprise visit – from the stork.

A woman went into labour on Friday and gave birth on a path at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.

The 21-year-old woman, who was visiting the zoo with a group, had a baby girl with help from keepers not far from the bear exhibit.

Zoo worker Liz Schmidt told The Post-Standard that she heard about the situation and rushed to find the woman already pushing out the baby.

“I honestly didn’t expect her to deliver at the zoo,” Ms Schmidt said. “I thought we’d pop her in a wheelchair and she’d be good to go to the hospital.”

Other workers arrived with blankets to keep the mother and baby warm, and the zoo’s elephant expert herded away curious visitors.

An ambulance soon arrived to take the newborn to a hospital. A hospital representative declined to discuss the mother or baby’s medical conditions for privacy reasons.

Zoo Director Ted Fox said the attraction plans to send a gift to the family.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Nice . . . so Penang gets another beast among their ranks what was being snatched? Zoo animals conceiving? Now we understand why cheaters never prosper and why (some) Asians REALLY do not have Human Souls. That which is not one’s may never belong by theft or strength in numbers, more so on the spiritual level. How about another invasion of the 3rd world before the pariahs get too strong. Those who play by the rules need not worry, by now most of the ‘invaders’ should be able to identify the whos who among pariahs and among the rich and politically connected are plenty of pariahs.

Dmitry Medvedev has been caught making some unusual comments off-air after failing to realise television cameras were still rolling.

The Russian prime minister let his guard down after an interview with five Russian television stations – offering his strange views on Father Christmas and aliens as well as taking a pot shot at President Vladimir Putin and the federal police.

“I believe in Father Frost. But not too deeply. But anyway, you know, I’m not one of those people who are able to tell the kids that Father Frost does not exist,” he said in a jovial reply to a question about Russia’s equivalent of Santa Claus.

He went on to take a jab at Mr Putin for his frequent lateness for meetings after he was more than hour late for an event in southern Russia.

“Colleagues, somebody should be extremely punctual, while somebody else is exhausting all the limits for being late,” he said.

The comments invited a satirical reaction on the Internet which is unlikely to help Mr Medvedev, whose power has been ebbing since Mr Putin took over as president.
RUSSIA-GOVERNMENT-POLITICS-MEDVEDEV The prime minister speaking to the TV stations that caught him off-air

In the interview itself, Mr Medvedev underlined his allegiance to the president in a likely bid to dismiss rumours he is about to be fired.

In an unexpected move, the liberal-leaning prime minister defended Kremlin-backed laws which critics say will be used to stifle dissent.

But in the off-air comments, he was more frank.

When a journalist complained about federal investigators arriving to search the home of a witness in an inquiry early in the morning, Mr Medvedev said: “They are just jerks, so they come at eight in the morning.

“It’s just their set of habits. I know many people who work in the police. They think if they come at seven in the morning they will get everything in the world.”

Another of the journalists asked whether the president is handed secret files on aliens when he receives the briefcase needed to activate Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

“Along with the briefcase with nuclear codes, the president of the country is given a special ‘top secret’ folder. This folder in its entirety contains information about aliens who visited our planet,” Mr Medvedev answered playfully.

“Along with this, you are given a report of the absolutely secret special service that exercises control over aliens on the territory of our country…

“More detailed information on this topic you can get from a well-known movie called Men In Black… I will not tell you how many of them are among us because it may cause panic,” he said.

None of the television stations that interviewed Medvedev broadcast the off-air comments.

Russians mocked the prime minister on the internet.

“It’s sad when the former president and current prime minister of your country is simply a pathetic person,” Yekaterina Kudinova wrote on Twitter.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not strange at all but with the kind of Russian subtlty that bore Russia a Marx. Medvedev has a OCCULT (or Techno advanced derived) CONSCIENCE which could be tranlated into OCCULT (or Techno advanced derived) ETHICS which can translate into (or Techno advanced derived) MORALLY AFFLUENT LAWS. This is my strange response to Medvedev’s strange off air comments. Expositions on methodology will lead to spiritual cleanliness and less hive mindedness and less mob mindedness, these many headed “non-individuals” Medvedev is referring to are the true criminals of Humanity that need to have the worst happen to them.

A one-on-one between exes is not the same as mass parasitisation, and we all know where spiritual parasites are going, those who do not produce and only take, as “Useless Eaters” are bound for the Auswictzs’ of the future (and past). In other words, do your own work or (spiritual homework) and choose your fights carefully and with respect, millions of spirits will be seeking their payment for their untimely deaths and that will be the ‘hell’ everyone keeps talking about . . . vote Medevedev for the next Sec. Gen. of the UN and we might see a better world if Medevedev applies entirely such principles within the SPIRITUAL update of the UN Human Rights Charter. Here’s one for the morally affluent non-cops and non-parasites . . . lets shine a light on all degenerates who won’t even think for themselves . . .

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — No government agency is taking action to remove the decaying carcass of a whale on a California beach, making it appear the job will be left to Mother Nature.

The corpse of the huge fin whale created a spectacle on Friday as people wandered down the narrow Malibu beach to look at the remains — white bones, rolls of blubber and the tail flukes trailing along the water’s edge.

The homes of movie stars, celebrities and others line the cliffs high above the slender beach.

Looking over the whale, Malibu resident Ben Dossett suggested there was now no need to try to remove it.

“You look at the difference between what it was on Tuesday to what it is today. I think they can just leave it and let nature take its course,” he said.

The smell had largely faded away, but still attached to the shoes of those who came near. Some people took pictures, a boy poked the bones and dogs sniffed it.

“It’s really sad that this is my first time seeing a whale,” said Ingrid De La O, a Malibu resident. “It’s mind-boggling to see this immense huge thing that lives in the water.”

The 40-foot-long, 40,000-pound juvenile male washed ashore Monday near Point Dume, which marks the western end of Santa Monica Bay, about 30 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

“From the evidence that we have so far, it appears that it was hit by a ship,” said Jonsie Ross, marine mammal coordinator for the California Wildlife Center.

James Respondek, a real estate agent who lives in the area, worried that the carcass would draw sharks that could pose a threat to his young daughter, who swims in the cove, and to his favorite surfing spot down the beach. He said he was frustrated that no agency would remove the carcass.

“There seems to be no readiness to take responsibility, to take action, just a lot of excuses. ‘I don’t have a boat, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the resources,’ they all told me,” he said.

Fin whales are endangered, and about 2,300 live along the West Coast. They’re the second-largest species of whale after blue whales and can grow up to 85 feet, weigh up to 80 tons and live to be 90 years old.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Austerity leads to political caution? Cost saving and avoiding use of crony contractors (in this case whale cleaning crews companies which the government cleverly decided not to pay with taxpayer funds by, or where the links were so obvious they did not want to expose their political flank for) is good for the taxpayers and respect of tax fund access, and who knows a clever reference to Kim Schmidt that MSM should play on . . . the cleanup might cost a few thousand which could go to the starving or homeless, instead of a crony company. The local bars could take a look at the below article btw, a potential money making and indirect clean up courtesy of the local oceanside bars, though killings of mostly endangered whales intentionally by ship owners should be very carefully watched for . . .

Owen Roberts was an Oxford graduate, a man of dazzling intellect and gentle wit, who met Ann when they were both young broadcast journalists

Ann Clwyd had presumed that when her husband was admitted to a flagship teaching hospital, the staff charged with caring for him would do just that. It was not an outrageous assumption.

She did not imagine that he would die ‘like a battery hen’, squashed against the bars of his bed.

She did not anticipate that he would deteriorate catastrophically because, she feels, those entrusted to look after him were guilty of ‘indifference, contempt and callousness’.

She had expected that her gentle and genial husband, Owen Roberts, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, would be accorded care and kindness.

Instead, six weeks ago, he died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, as she sat helpless at his side.

This week, Ann, 75, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, and a redoubtable campaigner for the rights of the oppressed, steeled herself to make her private grief public.

She did so not for political aggrandisement but to try to spare others similar suffering.

Ann spoke out shortly after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted that poor standards of care are one of the biggest problems facing the NHS; that in the worst cases, hospital staff are overseeing ‘a kind of normalisation of cruelty’.

And she wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients.

When I met her in her parliamentary office later, she was composed and softly-spoken. Occasionally her eyes blurred with tears, but aside from grief, the emotion that overwhelms her is a quiet, simmering fury.

‘I felt it in the hospital,’ she says. ‘I can’t really remember what happened immediately after Owen died — it’s a blur — but I do remember my anger. Owen did not die from MS. He died from hospital-acquired pneumonia, and from lack of care and attention.

‘I’m still angry, and the anger gets fiercer. I think at one point I felt I’d like to burn down the hospital.

‘I know that people meet in rooms and discuss things and promise it will never happen again. But you know very well that it does. Again and again.

‘Owen was a tall man, 6ft 2in, and he died cramped and squashed against the bars of his bed like a battery hen. He had an oxygen mask that didn’t fit properly and cut into his chin. When I asked for a better fitting one, they said, “Oh, we don’t think so”.

Almost every request I made was ignored or dismissed. His lips were very dry and I couldn’t understand why nobody was moistening them. I used my own lip salve on them.

‘I saw a nurse in the corridor and asked her why my husband wasn’t in intensive care. She just said, “There are lots worse than him”, and walked on.

‘Previously, I had asked another nurse if a doctor had seen him that day, and she said: “No, but we know what to do.”

To me, that meant “We’ll do nothing”. It was almost as if someone, somewhere, had decided they weren’t going to do anything more for Owen, although he was obviously very ill.
Six weeks ago, Owen Roberts died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, pictured

Six weeks ago, Owen Roberts died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, pictured

‘He was very cold, because a patient in the next bed had a fan that was blowing cold air over him and Owen had only thin cotton blankets on his bed.

‘There was no one observing him. You ask yourself: “Where is everyone? Where are the nurses? Why is no one doing anything?”

‘You kick yourself that you didn’t stand in the corridor and scream, but when you’re an MP, you’re concerned about throwing your weight around. And you think, “I’m in a specialist hospital, with people who’ve been professionally trained” — and you assume they know what they’re doing.

‘But a basic element of good care was missing: compassion.

‘Owen lived with great dignity and fortitude, but when he died, he was treated with contempt. And I believe the fact that the nurses and doctors failed in their duty of care contributed to his death.’

Owen Roberts was an Oxford graduate, a man of dazzling intellect and gentle wit, who met Ann when they were both young broadcast journalists. He went on to become a distinguished director and producer on Welsh television.

They had no children and Ann entered politics — and became MP for her Welsh constituency in 1984. She later became Tony Blair’s special envoy on human rights in Iraq.

When Owen died in October, they had been married for 49 years.
Ann Clwyd was the UK special envoy for Human Rights in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. She is pictured during a visit to the Welsh Guards in Iraq

For 30 years he had suffered from MS, but had borne adversity with courage. Two years ago, in 2010, he fractured his leg in a fall and had a partial hip replacement, which left him confined to a wheelchair. But he lived at home in South Wales with Ann, who combined her parliamentary duties with looking after him.

He was ‘spirited, aware and intellectually curious’ and had enjoyed a visit from an old friend, an Oxford professor, just days before he collapsed on October 10 and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

At the hospital, Owen was allocated a bed in an open area of the A&E department, near the nurses’ station. Ann was told he would be kept in for observation, but she did not want to leave him until she had established that he would be sent to a ward.

She recalls: ‘Every time I tried to talk to one of the nurses, they were either on the phone or talking to one another. I know they were busy, but it did not explain how they could completely ignore a patient.

‘Whenever I asked when we’d see someone, the answer was always: “In a minute.” There was busy-ness, laughter, joking?…?but nobody addressed our concerns.

‘A doctor arrived with a tick list. He was brusque, arrogant and rude — he didn’t even introduce himself. When I asked, “What’s your name?”, he looked at me as if I’d said something impertinent. After he’d asked his questions, he just went off.

‘All this time, I hadn’t been offered a chair or a word of explanation. I’d expected at least some reassurance. But it was as if the nurses were in their little world. There was a feeling of total isolation’

Faced with this, Ann sent a text message to her PA, begging her to ask for help on her behalf.

Two-and-a-half hours later, a doctor arrived and assured her that Owen would be sent to a respiratory ward. Ann duly went home — but 24 hours later, her husband was still in A&E.

Meanwhile, Ann became ill herself, with a chest infection, and was unable to visit her husband — who’d now, finally, been transferred to a ward — for fear of infecting him and other patients.

Instead, friends and family popped in every day and she sought reports on his condition by phone. Often, she was thwarted. ‘I’d be told his nurse wasn’t there, or was on a tea break. I asked to speak to him on the phone, but they told me it was a facility they didn’t offer.’
The MP wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients

The MP wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients

Owen was diagnosed with sleep apnoea, a treatable disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing during sleep. He was, Ann was told, to be given a mask to wear at night to help regularise his breathing. It never materialised.

However, she spoke on the phone to a staff nurse, who offered a hopeful and cheering prognosis, predicting that Owen should be able to return home the following week.

The next day, however, Ann had a call from a consultant, telling her that he was very worried. “We think he’s got pneumonia,” he said.

‘I was stunned; panicked. I rushed in with my niece, and they told me he was not responding to antibiotics.’ Owen’s condition deteriorated sharply. Ann recalls the eight hours she spent at his bedside on the day before he died, on October 23.

‘I took in a catalogue of shirts and ties that had arrived in the post because he loved colourful ties and I thought he’d find it a bit of a joke. I showed it to him and he said, in Welsh, “Tomorrow”. It was the last word he said to me.’

‘I sat by his bed and he was breathing with his oxygen mask on. One of his eyes was inflamed and watering, so I asked for a nurse to wipe it. But no one came. So I got a tissue from my bag.

‘I sat at his bedside from 2.30pm until 10.30pm and, as far as I recall, no one said anything to us. No one asked me if I wanted a cup of tea. It was as if I was invisible.

‘There was one ward round, and I stood in a corridor while they pulled the curtains around Owen’s bed. They were gone in a flash, and I’ve no idea what went on.

‘I tried to reassure him, so that he didn’t feel abandoned. He was very cold — as he had been all the time he was in hospital. I put red socks on him — he always liked red socks — and I sat and held his hand.’

When Ann returned home, she texted a friend: ‘No doctor has been since this morning. Very few nurses around either. Not very happy with the set-up.’ That night, she slept fitfully for a few hours, and was called back to the hospital at 5?am.

‘I was in a state of shock. I got dressed very quickly and put on a red coat that Owen loved.

‘My neighbour Geraldine came with me, and when we got there and found Owen’s knee squashed against the side bars of the bed. We pushed a pillow in between to make him more comfortable. His feet were sticking out of the end of the bed and he was cold. Geraldine got a towel and put it over his feet.

‘I’d once got a bill through parliament to improve the welfare of battery hens, and I remember thinking he looked so cramped and squashed he was just like one.

‘I just sat there and stroked his arm. I was afraid to do anything — but I was in a university teaching hospital and I thought they must know what they were doing.

‘It was all a bit of a haze, but I remember thinking: “Why aren’t they doing anything?” I tried to say encouraging words. I wanted to reassure him, to let him know that I was there.

‘I’d never seen anyone die before, but when I saw the blood draining from Owen’s face, I just knew that he was dead.
As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off – but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time’

As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off – but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time’

‘Just at that moment, a nurse came in with a trolley crying out: “Anyone for breakfast?” It was only a four-bed ward, and she showed indifference bordering on callousness. It was, for me, a very emotionally draining time — and I believe care and dignity were not there. Owen was treated with contempt.’

As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off — but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time.’

A few days after her husband’s funeral, Ann returned to work. Friends had told her that work was the best therapy — but six weeks on, sleep eludes her.

For her, solace comes in the form of campaigning so that others do not suffer as her husband did. ‘This is why I’ve forced myself to speak out. I’ve had hundreds of supportive emails, and one retired GP wrote: “I felt ashamed of my profession and I cried at your distress.”

‘I don’t want any redress for myself, but I want to start a campaign. I just want to flag up the lack of compassion.

‘We all know nurses work under huge pressure, but so many now have degrees, and it seems to me there is more interest in their qualifications than in the qualities they should show to their patients.

‘Care, compassion, concern: this is what is needed. This is the message I want to get across.’

Mr Adam Cairns, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Chief Executive, said he was keen to meet with Ms Clwyd.

‘I would, of course, like to offer my sincere condolences to Ms Clwyd on the loss of her husband. I have been very concerned to learn of her experiences but, unfortunately, to date, and despite repeated efforts, Ms Clwyd has not responded to our offers to meet with her.

‘As a health board, we always accept responsibility when things don’t go well, which is why we really need Ms Clwyd to help us get to the bottom of what happened in the case of her late husband and to allow us to investigate fully the very serious concerns she has raised.

‘I’ve asked for a review of the case to be undertaken, a process which would be much improved by having information first-hand of the circumstances surrounding this case.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Any person can be a nurse without the degree after an informal internship. Somehow, working so hard and saving so much for a degree sucks the very compassion and humanity necessary to be a good nurse and a good citizen. Modern education is EVIL but in a very subtle way. Thats another reason to avoid those who swear by education, especially HIGHER EDUCATION. I had a dozen or so friends that ‘died’ (dehumanized to point of non-viability as friends) after getting educations.

They never seemed the same. As for hospitals, I’d say that my parents who had some reason to be interred, ALSO ‘died’ and became ‘different’ after their stays. Education and healthcare, even working on a salary in general somehow fracture the souls of those they come into contact with or those working at such places. Try talking to people with less education and compare, while the conversations are mostly less interesting or more limited, the sense of humanity is more intact. There might be some sort of ‘contract’ that the spirit seems to be affected by when using such institutions, not easy to place this occult sort of thing, but most of society excepting the people denouncing or untouched by the overall system make for a very difficult case to put forth, yet we still try and the closing thing to a key I’d say is to study Socialism and Marxism FIRST before getting into the Capitalist and Consumerist world. That is all I can offer to those who are afflicted with what I just described. Modern society is a spiritual sickness of sorts. That and high density living which fosters hive minds ad mob mindedness . . . the other thing that changes a person’s objectivity and ‘true self’, is marriage and family, but that will be for another response . . .

“Jurong Rock Cavern, South-east Asia’s first underground rock cavern for oil storage, with its two access shafts almost completed, will begin its first phase of proper construction at year end, with the first two caverns providing 480,000 cu meters of storage. JRC is located more than 100 meters below Jurong Island’s Banyan Basin and it will provide safe and secure storage for liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil, condensate, naphtha and gasoil. Locating the JRC just beneath Jurong Island will add more infrastructural support to the major chemical companies operating there such as Chevron Philips, ExxonMobil and Shell. Phase 1 of the project will free up about 60ha of usable land above ground and it will create 1.47 million cu metres of storage space, equivalent to 580 Olympic-sized pools, when completed by 2014. The cavern itself will be up to 27 m high – equivalent to a nine-storey building. This first phase will consist of 8km of tunnels and five caverns housing a total of nine storage galleries. The caverns will be built using a technique that drills and blasts sedimentary rock and for greater stability, the inner wall will be lined with rock bolts. A planned phase 2 of the project will double JRC’s storage capacity. GK-JCPL Consortium, a Jurong International partnership with French engineering firm Geostock, has previously been awarded the contract to in providing basic engineering design and construction management services for the caverns and associated facilities. Jurong International is also previously responsible for many of the heavy infrastructure and engineering projects associated with Jurong Island including its initial formation via reclamation and amalgamation of seven islands.”

Why we need such a deep storage in granite…300 feet below the surface? Just hoping its not for nuclear plant or weapons storage.

Hyundai clinches $890m Jurong Rock Cavern contract – by RONNIE LIM

CONSTRUCTION proper of Singapore’s underground oil storage project is finally set to start with South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction clinching the main $890 million ‘design and build’ contract this week from JTC Corporation.

Actual building under this contract, for the first phase of Jurong Rock Cavern (JRC), begins at year- end, with the first two caverns providing 480,000 cubic metres of oil storage when ready in the first half of 2013.

The entire phase one, comprising five caverns, will offer a total of 1.47 million cu m when completed by 2014.

This will make the JRC slightly larger than the $470 million, 1.24 million cu m tankfarm of Horizon Terminals, but about two- thirds that of Hin Leong Trading’s $750 million, 2.3 million cu m Universal Terminal – Asia’s largest commercial storage.

The project had earlier run into some delays, although Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran last month gave the assurance that Singapore was committed to the JRC which would help alleviate the land shortage on Jurong Island.

Investors have not been able to get land there to build more above-ground oil terminals needed by oil refiners and traders to store their oil and petrochemical products.

So despite being behind schedule and slightly above cost, the JRC will provide necessary infrastructure for Singapore’s oil hub, especially once the rebound comes.

The cost for phase one of JRC – being built under Banyan Basin – has run up by about one-third to $940 million from an earlier estimate of $700 million.

This includes the $50 million for two access shafts and start-up galleries – which are almost completed – to facilitate construction.

The chosen operator of the JRC – earlier expected to be announced at the same time as the main construction award – will, however, only be made known by mid-year, JTC officials indicated yesterday.

Existing terminal operators here such as Royal Vopak of Holland and Emirates National Oil Company are known to be vying for this.

The main construction award came 11/2 years after the tender was first called by JTC in late-2007.

Asked why it took that long, given that there were only two bidders (the other being South Korea’s SK Engineering), the spokesman explained that ‘it’s a huge tender which involved a lot of detailed work and is very complex’.

The work is being done 130m below the seabed, and Hyundai – which has experience with such projects in Taiwan and Korea – has to carry out ‘drill and blast’ excavation using explosives, he added.

The entire phase one will involve eight kilometres of tunnels, with five caverns made up of two storage galleries, with each gallery being 340m long, 20m wide and 27m high. (About nine-storeys high, each gallery is large enough to contain water from over 64 Olympic-sized pools).

‘The water pressure will keep the oil contained within the generally unlined rock caves,’ the spokesman said.

The higher project cost arose due to improvements made to the cavern designs to enhance operational flexibility, he explained.

A planned phase two of the JRC could add a further 1.3 million cu m of storage, doubling its capacity.

Asked if this could cost more than phase one, the spokesman said that ‘the complexity is similar, so it depends on the timing (of when the project is done)’.

I have a sneaky feeling its for something nuclear. It was mentioned before by our MIWs that Singapore may go nuclear in the future. Since when they tell u the truth about anything until TOO LATE or that we manage to ‘DIG’ things up trawling the internet. I have a real sneaky feeling about this ‘cavern’. Anyone have a map where this 8km cavern is located precisely? Dont want to live above it just in case. It’s in Jurong but where EXACTLY? “You can fool some of the people some of the time….BUT, you cannot fool ALL the people ALL of the time…

WHICH PARTY’S SLOGAN IS……We Aim To Fool The Majority All The Time?”

Re: Jurong Rock Cavern To Store What? Scary Thought…Nuclear Plant?

Quote Originally Posted by red amoeba View Post

the location for sure will be top secret. No lah, the big lobang is for oil. For weapons or ammo, it would be somewhere else. Instead of hving thse giantic tanks like big targets for terrorist, safer to store them underground. The MIWs have been telling too many lies that its hard to believe them anymore. Even if for oil, there must be air-vents to the surface. i like to know where these air vents are so as not to visit the area too frequently. These air vents should be spewing out invisible chemicals “You can fool some of the people some of the time….BUT, you cannot fool ALL the people ALL of the time…

WHICH PARTY’S SLOGAN IS……We Aim To Fool The Majority All The Time?”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Kiasu at the taxpayer’s expense? MM 4 million+ yearly, SM 4 million+ yearly, ON TOP of the President and Prime Minister’s posts . . . which 99% of Singaporeans said those salaries were legal? Obama earns 400K a year and USA is 1000s of times more than Singapore? Meritocracy or Institutionalized/Legalized Corruption?

ARTICLE 14

China to flatten 700 mountains for new metropolis in the desert – Lanzhou new area plan to begin with ‘mountain-moving project’, but financial and environmental wisdom of project questioned – Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing – guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 December 2012 17.48 GMT

A long, long time ago, an old Chinese peasant named Yu Gong decided to move two inconveniently located mountains away from blocking the entrance to his home. Legend has it he struggled terribly, but ultimately succeeded. Hence the Chinese idiom “Yu Gong moves the mountains.” Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Now Chinese developers are putting old Yu to shame.

In what is being billed as the largest “mountain-moving project” in Chinese history, oneof China’s biggest construction firms will spend £2.2bn to flatten 700 mountains levelling the area Lanzhou, allowing developers to build a new metropolis on the outskirts of the north-western city.

The Lanzhou New Area, 500 square miles (130,000 hectares) of land 50 miles from the city, which is the provincial capital of arid Gansu province, could increase the region’s gross domestic product to £27bn by 2030, according to the state-run China Daily. It has already attracted almost £7bn of corporate investment.

The project will be China’s fifth “state-level development zone” and the first in the country’s rapidly developing interior, according to state media reports. Others include Shanghai’s Pudong and Tianjin’s Binhai, home to a half-built, 120-building replica of Manhattan. China’s state council, its highest administrative authority, approved the Lanzhou project in August.

The first stage of the mountain-flattening initiative, which was reported on Tuesday by the China Economic Weekly magazine, began in late October and will eventually enable a new urban district almost 10 square miles in size northeast of downtown Lanzhou – a small, but important part of the Lanzhou Nnew area project to be built.

One of the country’s largest private companies: the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, headed by Yan Jiehe, is behind the initiative. The 52-year-old former teacher is portrayed in China as a sort of home-grown Donald Trump – ultra-ambitious and preternaturally gifted at navigating the country’s vast network of “guanxi”, or personal connections.

Yan was born in the 1960s as the youngest of nine children. After a decade of working as a high-school teacher and cement plant employee, he founded his construction firm in 1995 and amassed a fortune by buying and revamping struggling state-owned enterprises. In 2006 the respected Hu Run report named Yan – then worth about £775m – as China’s second-richest man.

His latest plan has evoked a healthy dose of scepticism. Lanzhou, home to 3.6 million people alongside the silty Yellow River, already has major environmental concerns. Last year the World Health Organisation named it the city with the worst air pollution in China. The city’s main industries include textiles, fertiliser production and metallurgy.

Liu Fuyuan, a former high-level official at the country’s National Development and Reform Commission, told China Economic Weekly that the project was unsuitable because Lanzhou is frequently listed as among China’s most chronically water-scarce municipalities. “The most important thing is to gather people in places where there is water,” he said.

Others also pointed to the financial risk of building a new city in the middle of the desert. “All this investment needs to be paid back with residential land revenue, and I don’t see much on returns in these kinds of cities,” said Tao Ran, an economics professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “If you have a booming real estate market it might work, but it seems to me that real estate in China is very, very risky.”

In an email interview, a China Pacific Construction Group spokeswoman dismissed criticisms of the project as unjustified. “Lanzhou’s environment is already really poor, it’s all desolate mountains which are extremely short of water,” said Angie Wong. “Our protective style of development will divert water to the area, achieve reforestation and make things better than before.”

Yan’s plans could be considered “a protective style of development, and a developmental style of protection”, she said, adding: “I think whether it’s England or America, or any other country, no one will cease development because of resource scarcity caused by geography.”

A promotional video posted on the Lanzhou new area website shows a digitally-rendered cityscape of gleaming skyscrapers and leafy parks. Against a driving operatic score, the camera zooms out from a large government building to reveal features of the area’s imagined urban topography: a clock tower, a new airport, an oil refinery, a light-rail system, and a stadium packed with cheering fans.

The new area “will lead to an environmentally sustainable economy based on energy-saving industries” including advanced equipment manufacturing, petrochemical industries and modern agriculture, wrote Chinese Central Television on its website.

The Lanzhou city government could not be reached for comment.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

There is no such thing as ‘real estate’, this has tremendous occult significance instead. Note the location and surrounding quake zones. This is a fengshui confluence city that looks set to be filled with life energy if not mistaken or even able to somehow harness the energy at the safe point. Concept of money and real estate is a farce btw. Save for allodial titles backed by force of arms, real goods and real labour/services, or the whimsical entertainments of the RLD, OPZ or Casino city, there is nothing on this planet but evil politicians term limitless and nepotistic, along with plutocrats (those who are BOTH politician and plutocrat are the worst) that sequester wealth and pollute the environment.

European Commission letter to House of Lords says Scotland’s membership will ‘cease to apply’ if it breaks away from the UK / Spanish government would block entry, fearing it would embolden Catalonian separatists

Brussels will refuse to let Scotland automatically join the European Union if voters back Alex Salmond’s plans for independence, it emerged today.

Officials at the European Commission have revealed Scotland’s EU membership will ‘cease to apply’ if it is no longer part of the UK.

The Spanish government has made clear it would ‘veto’ any attempt by Scotland to join.

It is a major blow to claims made by Mr Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, that Scotland would automatically continue to be in the Euro bloc.

He was ridiculed after claiming in a TV interview that he had obtained legal advice on EU membership but it had to remain secret. He later admitted no advice had been sought.

Now it has emerged that a letter sent to a House of Lords committee warns that that independence ‘would not have a neutral impact’.

Scotland would become a ‘third country’ – outside the EU and have to apply to join the 27-member union, the European Commission told the Lords economic affairs committee.

‘If a territory of a member state ceases to be part of that member state because it has become an independent state then the treaties would cease to apply to that territory,’ according to the letter reported by The Scotsman.

If Scotland did lodge an application it would need to ‘fulfil the usual obligations’ and be ‘accepted unanimously by the members of the council [member states]’.

In a recent debate, Lib Dem Lord Wallace revealed the UK government was clear that any attempt for Scotland to join the EU would meet with difficulties.

‘On the question of Catalonia and Spain, it is entirely clear that the Spanish Government are opposed to any idea of secession and would be likely to veto a Scottish application to join the European Union under current circumstances.

There have been exchanges between the Spanish Government and the European Commission on this exact issue.’

The Spanish government fears that if an independent Scotland gained membership it would bolster calls for Catalonian independence.

It directly contradicts claims made by Mr Salmond’s SNP, who have repeatedly suggested Scotland would automatically join the EU as a new state.
The Scottish independence referendum is being held in autumn 2014, when Mr Salmond hopes to capitalise on a patriotic mood marking 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn

The Scottish independence referendum is being held in autumn 2014, when Mr Salmond hopes to capitalise on a patriotic mood marking 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn

SNP MP Pete Wishart told the Commons last month: ‘Scotland is a constituent part of the United Kingdom. We are currently a member of the European Union. After independence, we will continue to be a member of the European Union.’

But Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire told the same debate that ‘everything would change’ if Scots vote to go it alone in the referendum due in autumn 2014.

An independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU and would have to ‘start afresh’, he added.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘Immediately following a Yes vote in Autumn 2014, Scotland will still be part of the UK. Negotiations will then take place on the transfer of powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament along with negotiations on the specific terms of an independent Scotland’s continued membership of the European Union.

‘Ministers have always been clear that these negotiations will be needed – but the crucial point is that they will take place from within the EU.

‘Scotland has been an integral part of the European Union for almost four decades and an independent Scotland will continue in EU membership. As legal, constitutional and European experts have confirmed, Scotland is part of the territory of the European Union and the people of Scotland are citizens of the EU, and there is no provision for those circumstances to change upon independence.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I wouldn’t worry if I were Salmond or Scotland. When Scotland becomes a sovereign state and possibly banking or hub for BRICS, Brussels will change their tone to the effect that automatic joining will be forestalled by going through the motions of ‘starting afresh’. This is terribly manipulative but a face saving necessity.

Scotland presents a great opportunity for BRICS by being sidelined in this manner by EU. BRICS well needs a friendly point to the EU by and if the EU has decided to distance from Scotland then BRICS would certainly find Scotland that much more attractive, not that EU and BRICS are in any spat that Scotland is already not aware of. UN can even drop Scotland, but so long as BRICS is around the multipolar world will balance things out.

An independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU and would have to ‘start afresh’, he added. Well thats just pretentious. And if by some impossibility that Scotland fails to join EU, the BRICS will be very happy to have a new member EVEN IF Scotland becomes the North Korea of the EU. Like a trust fund under guardianship and insulting as hell to Scotland to the tune of a deflated bagpipe gasping a sour note of contrived control. I’m not Scottish but already feel offended on the Scots’ behalf. Incidentally, try the CGI “Brave”, the settings make the Scots into a circus, main characters are ‘fractured’ as hell and an unhealthy role model . . .

Sometimes a highly individualistic name for a baby is not good news for a kid, says Dean Obeidallah

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog “The Dean’s Report” and co-director of the upcoming documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy

(CNN) — Siri, Mars, Mac and Luna. I’m not talking Apple products or planetary terms. These are baby names. And not just any baby names but ones that have jumped in popularity in 2012, according to Baby Center.com’s just released list.

Baby Siri? Seriously, who would name their bundle of joy after a frustrating Apple product that hardly ever works? And speaking of Apple (see daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin,) that name moved up a whopping 585 places on the list of names for girls born in 2012. So there could conceivably be a family out there with a daughter named Apple and a son named Siri. (Hope that entitles the family to a discount on an iMac.)

There was a time when bizarre baby naming was something only celebrities did to their kids (as if being the child of a celebrity wasn’t challenging enough). There’s Beyonce and Jay Z’s Blue Ivy, Penn Jillette’s son, Moxie Crimefighter, Bono’s daughter Memphis Eve, actor Jason Lee’s son Pilot Inspektor, and the list goes on and on.
Dean Obeidallah

But now this “condition” is apparently spreading to the rest of us. In addition to the offbeat names above, 2011 saw babies sporting such names as: Moo, Draper, Graceland and Tequila.

There are even media reports that this past weekend some parents allegedly named their newborn daughter, Hashtag. That one may turn out to be an Internet hoax, but after last year’s story of a child in Egypt being named Facebook (in praise of the role Facebook played in the Egyptian revolution), we can’t be too far from babies named Retweet and Spam Blocker anyway. It truly is only a matter of time until you meet a kid named DVR or Playstation 3.
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Apparently some parents believe that giving their child a jaw-dropping name will make him or her more distinctive. News flash: it’s not the name that makes your child stand out, it’s his or her achievements.

While I don’t want to rain on creativity, let’s be honest — these weird names are more about parents showing off their “cleverness” than about finding a name that fits the child. It’s not like the parents got to know the child first for a few months and then said, “You know this baby really is a little Siri.”
Beyonce, Jay-Z welcome baby Blue Ivy
Jolie: We are all Malala

And do these parents even consider that a baby’s name can cause consequences for the child that the parents never imagined, and in many areas of the child’s life? When I reflect upon my own name, I realize that my life could have been far different if my parents had followed their initial instincts when naming me.

My Palestinian father wanted to name me Saladin after the famous Muslim leader, while my Sicilian mother wanted to name me Dino. Instead they compromised on Dean.

Growing up in North Jersey, Dean was not a common name. But it actually made me feel different in a good way being the only Dean in my class. And even today in looking at the list of baby names for 2012, I was actually happy that Dean was not in the top 100.

Still, the truth is, if I’d been named Dino, I would have certainly been viewed as more ethnic by teachers, potential employers and co-workers. I would have been required to continually overcome cultural stereotypes.

And if I’d been named the very Arabic Saladin Obeidallah, you could just imagine all the “fun” I would have had in post-9/11 America. I would have likely volunteered for “random” security checks at the airport to make it easier for all involved or simply got used to taking the bus cross country.

But there’s a difference between a name that isn’t overly common and naming your child after your favorite appliance. A name is a big part of a kid’s identity. It can trigger impressions about a child even before we meet him or her — a particular problem among the closed-minded of the world, but this is the world your child will have to navigate.

For example, studies have found that children with names that linguistically sound like they come from a lower socioeconomic status are less likely to be recommended by school officials for gifted classes and actually more likely to be labeled as learning disabled.

Other research has revealed that boys with feminine sounding names — such as Shannon or Ashley — have had more disciplinary problems in school because of their response to teasing. Still other studies have found a link between how much people like their own names and their level of self-esteem.

So, parents, keep in mind that your choice of name will have a lasting impact on your child — both for good and bad. And if you insist on picking a bizarre name for the baby, then I propose that your child be empowered to rename you with any name he or she chooses. At least then it’s fair that a child named Hashtag has parents named Angry Birds and YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In the past there were in some cultures NAMING CEREMONIES AT ADULTHOOD. The child would choose a name LATER, and all children knew their names when young were TEMPORARY and that parents chose those names. Sometimes what the child did that was most unique would also decide what that child was RENAMED at adulthood. So ‘Hashtag’ away and legalise/normalise name changing at the age of 21. Knowing that names are temporary and chosen by parents, kids would not be affected by teasing because they knew they were going to change that name, or the teasers would not bother to tease knowing the name would also change by then.

An anti right-to-work protester is seen outside of Michigan’s state capitol building in Lansing December 11, 2012. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

(Reuters) – Michigan enacted a ban on mandatory union membership on Tuesday, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States.

As more than 12,000 unionized workers and supporters protested at the Capitol in Lansing, the Republican-led state House of Representatives gave final approval to a pair of “right-to-work” bills covering public- and private-sector unions.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed the bills into law as soon as they reached his desk, completing in a few days a campaign to make Michigan the 24th U.S. state to prohibit unions from requiring employees to join and contribute dues.

“I view this as an opportunity to stand up for Michigan’s workers, to be pro-worker,” Snyder told a news conference after he signed the bills.

The laws will take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which means they will probably come into force sometime in April. Existing union contracts will not be changed until they expire, according to a provision of the laws.

In a rapid turn of events, Michigan moved from being a bastion of union influence to joining states, mostly in the South, that have weakened local protections for unions.

The Teamsters union national president, James Hoffa, whose father, Jimmy Hoffa, was one of the nation’s most famous labor leaders until he disappeared in 1975 in Michigan, denounced Republican leaders in a speech to the protesters.

“Let me tell the governor and all those elected officials who vote for this shameful, divisive bill – there will be repercussions,” Hoffa said, adding the Republicans could be defeated in the next election.

Unions have accused Snyder of caving in to wealthy Republican business owners and political donors such as the Koch brothers, owners of an energy and trading conglomerate, and Richard DeVos, the co-founder of Michigan-based Amway.

Snyder, a former computer company executive who had said “right-to-work” legislation was too divisive for Michigan, changed course last week and announced his support for it.

While labor leaders decried the legislation, Republican Representative Lisa Lyons said during the debate in the House that such laws were not an attack on unions.

“This is the day Michigan freed its workers,” she said.

Opponents argue that the measures undermine a basic union tenet of bargaining collectively with employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. They also allow workers to opt out of a union, potentially reducing membership.

By weakening unions, Republicans also could hurt the Democratic Party, which traditionally receives a significant portion of its funding and grass-roots support from unions.

Supporters of right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages business investment, citing “right-to-work” states where some foreign automakers have put plants rather than in Michigan.

CRIES OF ‘SHAME’

The measures were approved to cries of “shame” from protesters inside the Capitol building, which was closed to visitors when it reached capacity of 2,200, Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk said.

An estimated 10,000 more people demonstrated outside in cold and snowy conditions, including members of the United Auto Workers union, and teachers, who shut down several schools in the state to attend the rally.

A few protesters were ejected from the Capitol after they chanted slogans from the gallery during the debate. Protesters tore down two tents set up for supporters of “right-to-work” on the grounds of the Capitol. Adamczyk said six people were arrested after scuffling with officers.

A mixture of pepper spray and tear gas was used on one person, Adamczyk said, although Reuters journalists also saw protesters sprayed with a substance at a government building near the Capitol.

The protests recalled big rallies in Wisconsin nearly two years ago when Republicans voted to curb public-sector unions. Wisconsin never tried to pass “right-to-work” bills.

But Indiana earlier this year became the first state in the industrial Midwest to approve “right-to-work” legislation and several other states are watching the Michigan action closely.

LEGAL CHALLENGES LOOM

Republicans in Michigan were also emboldened by the defeat in the November election of a ballot initiative backed by unions that would have enshrined the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution.

Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. The state has the fifth highest percentage of workers who are union members, at 17.5 percent

The Detroit area is headquarters for General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, which is majority-owned by Fiat SpA.

The UAW was founded in Michigan after a 1932 protest at a Ford plant in Dearborn left five people dead, increasing public sympathy for industrial workers during the Great Depression and leading to national legislation protecting unions.

Major automakers, which secured concessions from the UAW after nearly going bankrupt during the recession of 2008-09, were careful not to take sides publicly in the fight.

All of the so-called Big Three domestic automakers said they were “neutral” on “right-to-work,” even though the Michigan Chamber of Commerce strongly supports it.

“At Ford, we are focused on working with all our partners, including the UAW,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Democrats and unions have vowed to challenge the new laws in the courts, to try to overturn them in a ballot initiative and possibly oust through recall elections some Republicans who voted for the measures.

Democratic Representative Douglas Geiss said “right-to-work” laws would lead to a resumption of the battles surrounding the creation of unions decades ago.

“There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues,” Geiss said.

(Additional reporting by Robert Carr, David Bailey and Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Reuters?!? A ban on mandatory union membership *IS NOT*, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States. This protects the workers from mob mindedness or being forced into what become SECRET SOCIETIES that also collect yearly dues or other fees that mosy workers who need a union cannot and would rather not pay! Work unions are powerful and goodly when CONSENSUAL, but when EEVERY WORKER IS FORCED TO JOIN, we end up with ‘Satrapies’ run by tyrants, especially if term limits in the COMMITTEE are not a fact or part of the constitution of the Union in question. This law protects the individual worker by giving OPTIONS. How could Reuters write such news?!?

‘Supporters of right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages business investment, citing “right-to-work” states where some foreign automakers have put plants rather than in Michigan.’ This says everything.

“There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues,” Geiss said.

Oh yea? So what if they don;t join or don’t pay. If they don’t want to pay the union mafia, thats their choice. Why should there be any fights at all. Are these unions thugs?

i fuckin hate this religion ,i grew up in muslim majority country and i can say muslims are full of shitt even though i don’t hate muslims i hate islam “To Muslims it is always a just war if the end goal is to spread Islam. If the war is waged by non Muslims to stop Muslims from marching in to spread Islam inside their land, it is an unjust war…Many Muslims call for da’wa in the West, which technically means “an invitation to Islam.” They present it as a “peaceful” invitation, but they do not tell the West that this is the first step before outright war if their da’wa is rejected. So when Muslims say da’wa, the West should be warned, because they do not want you to know that da’wa is merely the “make nice” first step before preceding outright jihad.” 7:56 PM

Blogger Gabe Del said…

I’m a witness to the ignorance that is Muslim . I’m a US Marine forward deployed on my 5th combat deployment. Four in Iraq and now one in afghanastan . These guys are illiterate and simple minded. The ten percent that can read will twist young Muslims minds to make them believe what ever they want them to believe in their Gods name. Kill, kill, kill is what they teach them against anyone not Muslim. There Koran teaches peace and good will, but I agree, history tells the truth of what kind of people they really are. No need to swear or lower yourself to their level. Muslims are the infection this world so desperately needs a cure for. 10:19 AM

Dead Ted said…

So your saying that the sneak attack on our towers, the pentagon, and the White House is a way to protect their land and people? Good plan worked wonders…some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever read 2:38 PM

Blogger Red_Rooster said…

Their minds are f***ed, memorizing the fucking Koran. Their ‘thinking’ part of the brain has gone redundant. They hate the Jews but do everything the Jews do; do not eat pork, cut their dicks, bleed a poor animal to death and call it ‘Hallal’ instead of ‘Kosher’, write backwards and wash their dicks before they start praying. In fact, the dumb muslims, follow the Jewish calender! The first day for the muslims is ‘Yom al Ahed’, meaning the first day. It is the Sunday; the first Jewish day after the Sabath. Yom al Itneen, Yom al thalata, Robo, Khamis and Juma, stand for the second, third, fouth, fifth and sixth day. The muslims 7th. day, is ‘Yom al Septh’; literally meaning, the seventh day. In fact, the Sabath; the day the Jews were told to rest. The muslims only differ from the Jews, is in their day of rest. They rest a day before the Jews. In prayer, physically they are the same, except the Jews literally tell you they are fucking somebody, while the muslims tell you, “Fuck Me!”

samy said…

to Jihan

I know what is written in Quraan , i was forced to read and even memorize it at school when I was living in my mother country before migrate to canada ( thank God), the true islam relegion is violence .. force other people to convert otherwise they will be islam enemy and should be killed .. this is what written in Quraan and you knw it and can not deny it… even in here in canada they are trying to force the stubid islamic belives on other people and their ultimate goal is to take over north america and europ .. I hope that our government to wake up and realise what is going on … WAKE UUUPPPP.., islam is evil , muslims are twisted minded and hate everyone simply because he or she is not muslim !!!! they will be in everlasting HELL.. this is the simple plan truth, so what ever you or any muslim try to say otherwise .. it is a BIGGGGG LIE.!! 10:45 AM

Event_Horizon said…

They are so backward in all aspects of life including commerce, infrastructure or technology. They are a brainwashed nation thirsty for the blood of other successful nations. And the worst part is their fucked up religion acts as a catalyst. It inspires them to wage was over the world. For how long will the world continue to tolerate these freaks of religion? The muslims sole mission in life is to create terror in the world. That is what they live for, that’s what their religion teaches them. They are jealous of the developed countries . . . P.S. Muslims smell bad…..True Story! 12:38 PM

Blogger Pris said…

I love all other religions except islam. Muslims are truly f***** up, but don’t know any better because they are brainwashed and left with no brains. Watch all the muslim countries in the world, none of their economies are doing well. The ones that have oil may have money, but they have no infrastructure, no scientific manpower etc. These assholes come to the west for a better life and then try to force their evil religion, customs, traditions and damn sharia law on the free citizens of the world. If left to thrive these guys will make our western nations deteriorate to the abysmal level of the muslim countries they came from. Their goal is to dominate the world and so they multiply like rats to increase their numbers. Before they become a sizable population in the west we should send these guys, including the ones that were born or converted in the west, to muslim countries and contain them there. Let them over populate muslim countries . . . are contaminating the west and so should be stopped before it is too late. To start off, we need to prohibit building of mosques and islamic schools, and publishing of the unholy koran. We need to unite and end this evil.

Blogger TheDeathBird said…

I know a family who left Lebanon to flee Muslim persecution. One of their grandsons returned to visit. On this trip there was a man yelling on the TV set in his hotel room. The man was protesting being fined a cow for shooting his wife for being outside the house. She had crossed a field and a man on a horse said something to her, since he didn’t get a clear shot at the man. Since he could not prove the man was really talking to his wife they fined him a cow. This is Muslim law this is what the Koran teaches. Also, in the Koran a woman told her husband to stop following Mohamid or she would leave She believed Mo was a bad evil monster. Her husband begged her to not talk bad about Mo but since She wouldn’t stop talking bad about Mohamid and She was Pregnant he cut his unborn child out of her belly. He went to Mo and told him and Mohamid said ” I can find no fault with this man” OK people this Story is in the Koran! can you imagine any other spiritual leader like Jesus or Krishna saying something like that! Only the spawn of hell the son of Satan the true Anti Christ would say such a thing Muslims worship the devil their God lives in hell and eats the faithful Muslims for dinner. While pretending to be God. Let any Muslim tell us that story isn’t in the Koran I read it! they follow this monster Mohamido the vile and say he is good. Anyone who reads the Koran who has any love inside them or spirtuality will be sad such a vile work of hate can be considered a work inspired by God. 7:48 PM

sexyharry said…

these guys(muslims) when small in numbers behave as if they are good (we respect other religions,and our god is tolerant etc.) but reality is there quran teaches to hate,kill people who doesn’t believe in islam, some of muslims are good as they doesn’t follow islam properly…….as muslims number increases they will be no more friend of urs ,they will take the side their muslim brothers and try to implement the shariah law’s,blasts,killing who leaves islam……so,i am a guy from sanathan dharam,in our religion we respect every other religion and our religion doesn’t believe in conversion bcoz god resides in us not by simple conversion…..so,i love all religions except islam ………4:02 AM

Blogger vsindia said…

Thes muslims are really lowly creatures. all the terrorists in this world are muslims. how can screw muslims ?

– stop giving them jobs
– shun them publicly
– make separate , stricter laws for muslims
– lets convert all their kids after killing the men
– lets creat gas chambers once again – only for muslims/

I hate them so much that my fist clench and jaws go tight when i think of these bastards. They have forcibly thrown out hindus out of kashmir and christians out of bosnia.

4:42 AM

mark said…

not all muslims are bad but I am sick of them. I am sick of them coming to the west and demanding that shariah law be implemented in western nations. if muzzies think shariah law is so great then they should piss off and go live in a muslim nation.

sick of their fantical hate and terrorism.
sick of their demands and sick of their backward ways.
muslims should go and live in muslim nations and keep their shit ways in muslim nations.

10:08 PM

Blogger marine corps captain said…

JIHAN,

I have taken significant time to read your Koran. And I would rather wipe my ass with a dirty, dime store novel than waste another minute reading, or listening, to that complete pile of pig cum.
Thank GOD I had the opportunity to kill 19 of your brethren while in Iraq. 19 less jihadists on the move.
It’s not ignorance my camel fucking friend…I completely understand your beliefs, motives and wants for this world. And if given the chance I would end your life as well. And your family’s and friend’s lives if possible.
And please refrain from the old tag line of “That’s not true Islam.” Any individual with a 3rd grade education has the ability to understand your religion of hate, murder, suppresion and penchant for death. Watch your back, Muhhamed…you won’t have a second chance with me. 8:23 AM

Fighting to live said…

Hi guys . I am married to a moslem but I am Greek Orthodox. This is a quite funny mix. Our kids are Christian I made sure . But the Moslems all jokes aside have made and continue to make efforts to convert me. That is quite frightening. My husband offered to convert. So I decided to make him sell everything in Pakistan and the next step is to convert him. Wait and see. Keep up the great work

8:50 PM

Blogger Uncle_Sam said…

this maessage is for the fucking muslims

Long gone are the days when you used to blow yourselves up in the middle of the streets in the countries that you infest with your presence.You forget that we are the ones who created and adopted this so-called human rights but we can also break em! you call yourselves warriors ? Com on up and fight you stinckin’ cowards! we’ll show you what a war means…We’ll show you what everyone felt 65 years ago!We’ll show the Nazi style bitches…we will behead all of your stinckin’ children and your masked-shit-pushed-in wifes… Can u all spell together HOLOCAUST? 3:10 PM

Blogger Red_Rooster said…

sdlfihsdiulkgh54;kuy5b4jgrehthredyth said… This man talks of porn … Tell him to go to Yemen. He can fuck 12 yr. old girls there for free! Three times a day! Free!

I lived in Yemen and I know. All the women go out around noon to eat Kat at their friends’. You just pick these Burka clad women and boy, when they enter your home, the Burka is off in a jiffy! Just like that! Pot luck but fucking lucky evertime I had. I must have fucked over 300 muslim cunts in my 5-year stay there. No worry of husbands. They are all in working in Saudi Arabia; coolies there and their 12 year old brides are getting fucked back home. By the way … all their women have inserted in them, the ‘Copper T’. A muslim Female gynacologist I knew, made a roaring business from inserting these things.

The ruder parts of the above have been edited out. The acts of terror are clear enough, but just from a woman’s angle, one doesn’t need to be a woman to want Islam to end in some places, to see how horrible Muslimahs lives are in some places . . . combine with a chastity belt (Christianity) and wallah, a semi-Cyborg . . . how much do some of the very worse among Muslets hate life or procreation that makes them treat women like this, makes the ‘no condoms’ Catholic lot seem humane even though abortion IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

Full Comment’s Araminta Wordsworth brings you a daily round-up of quality punditry from across the globe. Today: It’s the statistics, stupid!

There are more than 83 million people living in Egypt, the Middle East’s most populous nation; 90% of them are Sunni Muslims. More than half dwell in small towns and villages in the countryside and tend to be deeply conservative, attached to tradition. There is a small, urban, educated upper-middle class of liberals and left-wingers.

If these people get the vote, guess who the majority would go for? Under these circumstances, the dramatic swing from dictatorship through democracy to dictatorship is all too sadly predictable.

Now, Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood member who was elected Egyptian president in June, is showing his true colours — he’s like Hosni Mubarak with a beard. He wants nothing less than an Islamic state, with sharia law and Muslim clerics empowered to render legal opinions.

His idea of reaching out to the opposition is to restate his position, as he did in last week’s speech. This was so devoid of anything resembling reconciliation or fresh ideas, the BBC cut off the live feed after about seven minutes.

Instead, Morsi is calling on the military to do his dirty work, arresting and trying civilians. Brotherhood members have also resorted to torture and the kind of vigilante “justice” that was a feature of the ancient regime. In their view, opponents are Mubarak supporters and/or paid troublemakers.

The Economist for one has seen the writing on the wall.

[Morsi’s actions have polarized Egypt’s exhausted people. The most populous and politically pivotal Arab state stands on the brink of prolonged civil strife, or a descent into a form of veiled dictatorship not unlike the one so recently overthrown, only this time in drab Islamist garb …
The abruptness of the Islamists’ lunge for control has ignited Egypt’s hitherto fractious opposition in outrage, prompting protests on the scale of those during the revolution. A group of former presidential candidates has picked Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize-winner and former UN official, as their leader, and threatened strikes and continued protests until Mr. Morsi relents. The judges, who usually run such things, plan to boycott the referendum. But he shows no signs of backing down. Tired, impoverished and apprehensive, ordinary Egyptians may be tempted to let the Muslim Brotherhood have their way.

Morsi remains intent on strictly following the course of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist group wants to see their man, who won a narrow victory in summer elections, to put Egypt on the path to fundamentalist Islam. And the Muslim Brotherhood is in no mood for compromise. After more than 80 years in the political underground, Brotherhood leaders have decided to seize their chance. And Morsi increasingly looks the part of a fainthearted Brotherhood puppet. He appears to have accepted his country’s descent into violence, making more clashes on the streets of Cairo inevitable.

At The National Review, Andrew C. McCarthy says Egypt’s unravelling was inevitable.

Here’s the late-breaking news: The Muslim Brotherhood is the enemy of democracy. … the Muslim Brotherhood is an innately, incorrigibly Islamic-supremacist outfit. Wherever it establishes a presence, it seeks — as gradually as indigenous conditions require, and as rapidly as they allow — to implement its repressive construction of sharia. Wherever it gets the opportunity to rule, it uses its power to impose this sharia, despite resistance from the society’s non-Islamist factions.

This is not a mere theory. Egypt, the world’s most important Arab country, is violently convulsing before our eyes in direct reaction to the suffocation that is Islamist rule. So, will we finally take the lesson? Will we finally come to understand why democracy and Islamic supremacism cannot coexist? Ebrahim Moosa, an Islamic studies prof at North Carolina’s Duke University, believes the Egyptian president and his Islamic allies badly misjudged the situation.

Mr. Morsi seems to have forgotten the sensitivity that a country freshly freed from decades of despotism might feel towards anything with an odour of dictatorship. Secretive and inward-looking, the Brotherhood appears surprised by the depth of mistrust that many Egyptians, including pious Muslims of every social class, feel towards them. The Islamists’ constituency remains large and their organising power formidable. “They will rally the poor with the slogan: to be a Muslim, vote yes for the constitution and confound the infidels,” predicts Muhammad Nour Farahat, a law professor at Cairo’s Zagazig University. Yet even if Mr Morsi and his Brothers manage to pull this off, a heavy cloud will remain over their rule.

Why not the military just take over and do away with the Islamist b.s. and revive a BENEVOLENT Constitutional Pharoanate via DNA testing to determine the closest Royal Egyptian bloodline? A BENEVOLENT Grand Vizier from the military would well be tolerated even for LIFE (if all unused state land is redistribited to the landless or homeless in Egypt) while the country RE-EGYPTIANISES. This would be preferable to this potential threat of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist imposition of Hudud or Syariah under Morsi which does not need to be written into the constitution and instead remain seperate from the State. Religion and State are not to be confused into a single item under any Islamist leaning Constitution. Let the Muslets impose their own laws on theselves, LEAVE THE SECULARITY OF STATE ALONE.

WHERE IS THE Pharoah’s Brotherhood or Amon-Ra’s Brotherhood to counter the Muslim Brotherhood? Freemasonry across the world could accept no less!

This is EGYPT and Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, the central symbol of the Egyptian civilisation is THE PYRAMID OF THE PHAROAHS . . . NOT ARABIA and Mecca or Medina, the central symbol of the Arabian civilisation is THE CUBE OF KABAA.

Egypt is not Arabia.

Adopt EGYPTIAN NAMES not keep using those ARABIAN NAMES (the wealthier can trace their DNA down to the nobility or even Kings if they try hard enough). Pray and worship at EGYPTIAN Temples. Respect a revived Egyptian Priesthood not a Foreign Priesthood that answers to a foreign Arab King. Wear Egyptian garb. In Egypt, if the Egyptian people have the will, an Egyptian King is even possible (Constitutional Monarch), or an Egyptian Pharoah rather.

Learn Hieratic instead of Arabic and remember that EGYPTIAN culture and polytheistic EGYPTIAN religion (well if the people are as lazy as Akenathan, worship Amon-Ra instead for a while NOT the Kabaa – even as the Aabakian Octohedron Cult arises on the Mecc(h)an Antipode) are well loved the world over, as opposed to Islamism’s monotheistic malaise and penchant for association with oil and terror, rampant disrespectful proselytization and sometimes forced conversions.

At least some Egyptians seem to remember who they are . . . the Egyptian Pantheon’s first High Priest perhaps? Imhotep! Imhotep! Imhotep II rather . . .

KUALA LUMPUR – The DAP today urged the Malaysian government to lodge diplomatic protests over Israel’s cruel actions on the people of Gaza, Palestine.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Wisma Putra (the Foreign Ministry) should make vehement protests on Israel’s actions to the United States and the United Nations so that the violence perpetrated against the people of Gaza was stopped forthwith.

“DAP condemns Israel’s using its military might disproportionately to the rocket attacks from Palestinian fighters. Israel’s aggression on Gaza always brings unnecessary deaths and damage to property,” he said in a statement here today.

At least 30 people have been killed and scores others injured, including women and children, in Israel’s latest airstrikes on the Gaza Strip which began on Wednesday.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza and the brutal killings of innocent Palestinians. The incessant shelling of whatever that is left of the Palestinian homeland is a gross violation of international law and constitutes acts of cold blooded murder.

We categorically condemn these blatant acts of aggression and call on the international community to do whatever that is necessary to put an end to the violence. The continued bombardment and the calling up of 75,000 reservists constitute a grave threat to peace and stability in the region.

We would reiterate the warning by both Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi that serious consequences would ensue if Israel follows up with its threat of a ground offensive.

Take clear moral stand

President Barack Obama must act immediately and decisively to put to an end to the increasing tension in the region by making it clear to Israel that their continued acts of aggression and the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza will have severe implications not just for the region but for international peace and stability.

All peace loving nations must take a clear moral stand on this issue and pressure Israel to cease its brutal, inhumane and oppressive actions against the people of Gaza, already marginalized for years and since 2006, unfairly penalised by the Western powers for having elected Hamas to power.

DAP is the worst political party EVER. We still have APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA here in Malaysia and DAP wants to target Israel AN ENTIRE country embroiled in decades of war instead? GTFO of Dewan DAP! End apartheid and unequal citizenships first then talk about Israel. If DAP can’t even walk as equals among Malaysians, DAP has no business talking about Israel. DAP is run by nepotistic term limitless idiots.

Also selected comments from another media site confirm DAP’s irrelevance to Malaysian politics and lack of interest in Human Rights locally (DAP accepts 2nd class citizenships but wants to fight the 10th Crusade on the side of Muslims? Obama didn’t get through to Anwar now did he? PKR has not spoken against apartheid or ensured Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter but wants to berate Obama on Palestine? Send in the marines!

Sunday, 18 November 2012 12:28 posted by Malaysian

DAP is barking up the wrong tree. It is now supporting aggressors. Hamas knew that the rocket attacks on Israel would get a strong response if they kept it up long enough. Were they thinking of the wellbeing of the Palestinians in this case? I think not. Like many in the world community, DAP has now been drawn into condemning Israel’s right to defend itself while conveniently forgetting that it was Hamas who started the violence. Can we have some common sense here, or is it too much to ask of DAP on this issue?

Sunday, 18 November 2012 14:38 posted by CorruptWorld

The corrupt and dictatorial leaderships in the middle east nations are fearful of the momentum of “the Arab Spring”. Rhetorica against Iran’s nuclear program, Iran supports Asad of Syria n militants in Iraq, Hezbollah meddling in Labenon, all year long Hamas firing rockets into Isreal, Isreal heavy response….these are planned political, big arms deals and corruption from bottom to top maneuvers by the leaders in West and East to divert or kill off the middle east peoples’ uprising and yearn for freedom and change of governments. Both, Isreal and Hamas are to blame for escalating tensions and hardship on their own people’s. When peace is near and real, they both acting up again. The ruling Government of Isreal is not true Jews as with Hamas is not true Muslims.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 22:31 posted by dominic

This is the second call from PR leaders . I have yet to see any call for Hamas to immediately cease their un-provocative shelling of Israel . Any disagreement is best settled on the round table instead of lobbing mortars and missles to gander international support and attention . Any peace at all need both side to abide collectively. No one party can go in alone !

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Drop the Israel-Palestine B.S.. . . ARE YOU A MINORITY living in Malaysia @dominic? If there is no equal standing locally for 40% of the population, stop talking about a country half a world away and handle the local issues first, Malaysia is half a Trillion in debt and has apartheid issues, this Israel-Palestine conflict is the work of SUPERPOWERS, and China and India are modest enough to keep their distance to let Russia and USA handle this, not even England or the EU want to get involved and here we have BN or Pakatan making alot of noise on the side . . . can’t even have equality, country in serious debt, can’t end Apartheid, and want to target the Middle East issues? Malaysian citizens as unfocused as Malaysian politicians, backyard issues first!

ARTICLE 2

The Ipoh boy who spoke no English… and rose to be Chief Justice – Sunday, 18 November 2012 08:29

This is an excerpt of a tribute delivered by Law Minister K. Shanmugam in Parliament on Monday to Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, who retired on Nov 6.

SINGAPORE’S constitutional framework enshrines the rule of law, the independence of the courts and the separation of powers.

The Constitution establishes the Judiciary as a separate and independent institution, and charges it with the responsibility to interpret the law and apply it to cases which come before the courts.

At the head of the Judiciary is the Chief Justice. Through his judgments and extra-judicial writings, his presidency over appellate hearings and even his personal conduct, the Chief Justice sets the tone for the administration of justice in Singapore.

It is a heavy responsibility, and Singapore has been singularly fortunate that, for the past six years, that responsibility has been discharged by Chief Justice Chan.

Humble background

THE Chief Justice came from a humble background. He lived in a communal house in Ipoh, started his education late because of the war, and could not speak English when he first went to school.

But adversity did not slow him down. He was one of the top students in the Senior Cambridge School Certificate in 1955, with eight distinctions.

He could not decide what to read at university. He was not thinking of doing law – he had no idea what a legal career would be like. Happily for Singapore, he was persuaded to do law by his English literature teacher, Dr Etherton, who said that he had a “very crafty mind” – in a good sense.

Chief Justice Chan joined the inaugural LL.B. class of 1961 in the then University of Malaya, and was one of the top students in a class that produced several other students who went on to hold high positions in the law.

Private practice

CHIEF Justice Chan practised briefly in Kuala Lumpur before joining Braddell Brothers in Singapore in 1963. He did so because he wanted to continue to be with then his girlfriend, Elisabeth Eber, whom he later married.

Later, the Chief Justice joined Shook Lin & Bok, where he rose to become the managing partner and one of Singapore’s leading banking and corporate lawyers, with a complete mastery of the law and a keen understanding of commercial and practical realities.

He was the counsel of choice for many banks and financial institutions, and drafted many of the standard banking and corporate documents used throughout Singapore in the late 1970s and in the 1980s.

The Chief Justice never hid behind verbiage. I once had to advise on a guarantee which was drafted by the Chief Justice. It comprised two paragraphs, in a telex. The party which challenged the validity of the guarantee – perhaps because it looked too short to be a guarantee! – later backed down. Though brief, the document was clear and accurate. That was the hallmark of the Chief Justice: in the way he gave his advice, in the way he drafted documents and in the way he wrote his judgments.

Judicial commissioner and judge

CHIEF Justice Chan was appointed a Judicial Commissioner in 1986 – the first person to be so appointed. He was later elevated to be a Judge in 1988.

During his first judicial tenure, from 1986 to 1992, the Chief Justice demonstrated the independence of mind and the keenness of analysis that lawyers today are familiar with. In this period, he heard a fair number of public law cases, and, in his own words, “the decisions are fairly divided between those decided for and against the Government”.

It was during this period that I started my own career in the law. In 1987, I appeared as a junior, with Mr Joseph Grimberg, in a case before the Chief Justice. The precedents were not clear. While Mr Grimberg was making his arguments, the Chief Justice somehow noticed – I don’t know how, perhaps it showed in my face – that I was keen for a point to be made. He asked Mr Grimberg to ask me what the point was. I was quite struck that the Chief Justice noticed everything in his court – he was so alert that he even picked up on the thought processes of a junior, and pursued the point.

His handling of the case, both in the way he conducted the hearing, as well as his legal analysis, left a deep impression on me.

He had an excellent judicial temperament – no flourish, no hyperbole, no drama. He always cut to the chase, succinct. He was usually well ahead of counsel and on top of all the issues – a first-rate, world-class judicial mind.

Attorney-General

IN 1992, Chief Justice Chan was appointed the third Attorney-General of Singapore.

As Public Prosecutor, he had the constitutional responsibility for instituting and conducting prosecutions. He acted firmly and in the public interest. At the same time, he was fair to the accused.

He enhanced the capabilities of the Attorney-General’s Chambers by strengthening the Civil and Criminal Divisions, and setting up the International Affairs Division and the Law Reform and Law Revision Division. His successors have built on this strong foundation, and today the AGC has a full- fledged team of first-rate lawyers, numbering about 250.

As Attorney-General, and later as Chief Justice, Chief Justice Chan played a leading role in the Pedra Branca litigation.

He presented our case before the International Court of Justice in a very clear manner, together with Professor S. Jayakumar, Professor Tommy Koh and others. The ICJ decisively upheld Singapore’s sovereignty over Pedra Branca. Chief Justice’s personal interests – he is a keen student of history – helped substantially in presenting Singapore’s case. His collection of South-east Asian history books, one of the largest in Singapore, was extensively used for the ICJ hearing.

Chief Justice

Mr Chan was appointed as Chief Justice in 2006. The appointment was received with great enthusiasm by the legal community.

Chan Sek Keong the Chief Justice was very much like Chan Sek Keong the man – humble, unassuming, with a powerful intellect and a keen sense of integrity.

Outside of the courtroom, Chief Justice Chan demanded that lawyers meet the highest standards of professional conduct, and took decisive measures to safeguard clients’ monies from errant lawyers. He constantly encouraged the legal fraternity, from Senior Counsel to law student, to do more pro bono work, to improve access to justice for the less fortunate amongst us.

He started the Young Amicus Curiae scheme where young lawyers could assist Judges hearing Magistrate’s Appeals, and expose themselves to criminal work.

He stressed the need for top- tier advocacy in commercial cases. He observed that top Senior Counsel were often retained by large institutions, rendering them unable or unavailable to act against such institutions. The result was that small law firms and individual clients who wanted representation against large institutions could not instruct Senior Counsel. He thus advocated that Queen’s Counsel be allowed to appear more freely in our courts, so that small law firms and individual clients can instruct them.

As a judge, Chief Justice believed that “judgments should be expressed in a language that a reasonably educated layman can understand”, and indeed his judgments stand out for their clarity and simple elegance.

He believed in procedural fairness, that “litigants must come away from the court with the feeling that even though they lost, they have had their day in court and have been heard”.

He believed that the function of judges was to interpret and to apply the law, and not to legislate or make policy in the guise of adjudication. In that sense, he was a legal positivist.

At the same time, he believed that judges had a role in developing the law interstitially, consonant with national values and fundamental principles of the common law.

To promote the practice development of Singapore law, he issued a Practice Direction that Singapore cases should be cited in preference to foreign cases. In the course of his judicial career, he wrote almost 380 judgments, or more than 30 a year. His judgments, which span many areas of the law, will continue to influence our jurisprudence for many years to come.

He believed in justice for the common man. Above all, the Chief Justice was a firm believer in the rule of law and the duty of the court to uphold the law. In a lecture in 2010, he offered a robust rebuke to those who doubted the independence of the Judiciary.

When the boy from Ipoh came to Singapore to study, settle down and start a career in the law, it was Singapore which ultimately benefited.

Any legal professional that has sat by and watched the lack of the above, is a ‘boy’ . . . Ipoh or wherever from . . . not a MAN who challenges the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA for the mere right to equality. Any Malaysian who RAN AWAY from Malaysia to Singapore, and not spoken a word against apartheid despite reaching such high status is a very cynical person, especially when no-longer holding posts or active in government.

‘While still at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), he was frequently asked about the Internal Security Act (ISA) — a law that enables the government to detain people without trial. The issue also recently grabbed headlines when the Catholic Archbishop of Singapore retracted a letter of support he sent to activist group Function 8, when it organised an event earlier this year calling for its abolition. Asked for his views on more controversial detentions in Singapore’s history, including Operation Coldstore in 1963 and Operation Spectrum in 1987, he felt it inappropriate to offer comment on specific incidents in the past because he was not privy to the specific security considerations applicable to them. With clearer knowledge of the situation between 2008 and 2011, however, Shanmugam is certain of the overarching rationale for the Act in the current international security environment — that ultimately it acts as a preventive measure where security threats are discovered on classified intelligence.

With the days of mass, high-profile detentions a thing of the past, though, whether the law should stay or not, he feels, all boils down to the evaluation of which of two risks Singapore is more prepared to take. “(The ISA) gives the power to the government to detain people without going through the due process of the courts. Once you have such a structure, is there a possibility of abuse? Of course… so that’s the risk,” he acknowledged. However, he pointed out, “Society has got to decide between that risk, or the risk that an incident might actually occur, and then you have to ask yourself, ‘What are the consequences of each of the two risks materialising? What is the impact on Singapore?’ and then people have to choose.” Shanmugam explained that where Singapore lacks in natural resources, it makes up for in a clean ecosystem that is friendly to businesses.’

Propagandist Indian raised into high stature, now here supporting draconian laws, and know that Shanmugam is present only for token multiracialism. Singapore is not friendly to business, but only acts as a money laundering front and military base of sorts centered around a CIVILIAN JUNTA around the nepotistic Lee family . . .

How can he compare to our wealthy, hollywood handsome pedigree and powerful Minister Nazari. Even Nazari son can afford to wear a million dollar watch. Can this S’porean(ex M’sian) CJ do likewise.

Aiyah, our Minister Nazari is 1st class conman – con his own people and also con everybody that there is nothing wrong in $40 million fiasco involving Michael Chia & Musa. By the way, sorry lah people like Justice Chan is not wanted by Malaysia. Smart people in Malaysia is a liability. They complain too much about UMNO’s brand of government. Too many smart people, where to cari makan.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 20:52 posted by Oran Utan

You guys still don’t get it do you? For UMNO this is all about Ketuanan Melayu, it is never about Meritocracy. And some you you hit a nail in the coffin, with his type of resume he will never get a job in Bolehland.

Talent corp is wasting taxpayers money and time, how do you expect to attract Malaysian Talents back and retain them when you cannot guarantee a future for these talents. Meritocracy, performance and opportunity for promotions and business opportunities are one of the main key criteria to stay back in Ketuanan Melayu land. So UMNO don’t take us for a ride with your Talent Corp bullshit. All I can see is that Talent Corp is another gimmick to siphon Taxpayers money.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 10:58 posted by Ibrahim

He acted firmly and in the public interest. ..

An excellent tribute. In Malaysia, if we can get 10% of the qualities mentioned in this tribute, we would be honored. Esp. When that Mamak who is really a Syaitan, tore the independence, professionalism & integrity of the Malaysian Judiciary to pieces.

Now we have only a Judiciary and AG Chambers completely compromised and without any more conscience esp. when Dealing with dissent and opposition to UMNO.

Following a public uproar to the widespread crackdown on two pro-democracy rallies held by electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0, Najib has taken great pains to improve civil liberties in Malaysia. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak signed ASEAN’s first human rights declaration (AHRD) in Cambodia today, officially committing Malaysia to its first foreign convention to promote fair treatment of every individual irrespective of race, religion and political opinion.

Today’s signing, which took place during the 21st ASEAN Summit at the Peace Palace in the capital city of Phnom Penh, comes at an opportune time for Malaysia and the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Najib, which has come under close international scrutiny for its alleged mishandling of several recent human rights issues.

“ASEAN shall pursue the protection and promotion of human rights in the region in our own way and also try to maintain the highest standard as expressed in various declarations and instruments of the international community,” ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan was quoted as saying in The Star Online.

According to media reports, the AHRD has a total of 40 clauses and covers areas like civil and political rights, economic, social ad cultural rights, developmental processes and peace enhancement.

The declaration also states that the rights of women, children, elderly and disabled persons and migrant workers are integral and indivisible part of human rights and fundamental freedom, The Star reported.

Najib has found himself in the international spotlight on numerous occasions, taking the hit for his administration’s alleged heavy-handedness in dealing with matters concerning civil freedom, individual rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Some key examples include the widespread crackdown on two pro-democracy rallies held by electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 — one on July 9, 2011, and another on April 28 this year — which resulted in scene of chaos and violence on the streets of this usually peaceful capital city.

To dull the uproar, however, Najib has taken great pains to improve civil liberties in Malaysia, even agreeing to repeal the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Sedition Act, enacting a new law to regulate public gatherings, agreeing to allow student participation in politics and relaxing provisions in laws governing press freedom.

But after the last protest on April 28, foreign media reports predicted that the government’s handling of the event would likely undermine Najib’s image as a reformist and force the prime minister to delay the next general election.

Several newswires, picked up by major newspapers globally, also took the same stance, with Reuters reporting that police action raised “the risk of a political backlash that could delay national polls which had been expected as early as June.”

Agence France-Presse also said that “the rally poses a dilemma for Najib, who since last year’s crackdown has sought to portray himself as a reformer, launching a campaign to repeal authoritarian laws in a bid to create what he called ‘the greatest democracy’.”

Several reports pointed to the first Bersih rally held just months before the March 2008 elections, which saw BN record its worst electoral performance ever, ceding its customary two-thirds supermajority in Parliament and five state governments.

Najib took over from Tun Abdullah Badawi a year later, ostensibly to improve on the results and some observers say only a return to two-thirds majority will guarantee he remains Umno president.

Widespread condemnation from the international press of Putrajaya’s crack down on last July’s Bersih rally saw Najib announce a raft of reforms including a parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms and the Peaceful Assembly Act, a major concession to win back an alienated middle-class.

But the findings of a bipartisan panel have been criticised as cosmetic by civil society and the opposition and yesterday’s planned sit-in was the first major test of the new law regulating demonstrations the BN chief says abides by “international norms”.

The foreign press had at the time also widely carried global civil liberties watchdog Human Rights Watch’s criticism of the government, saying it showed “contempt for its people’s basic rights and freedoms.”

“Despite all the talk of ‘reform’ over the past year, we’re seeing a repeat of repressive actions by a government that does not hesitate to use force when it feels its prerogatives are challenged,” said Phil Robertson, its deputy Asia director.

Apart from Bersih, the BN administration has also earned itself international condemnation for bringing charges of sexual misconduct and sodomy against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim numerous occasions, a move that the leader’s supporters have claimed was merely to stifle his campaign to topple the ruling pact.

Several cases of deaths in custody over the past few years had also cast the government in the spotlight for alleged human rights abuses. One example is the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock, whose death, which occurred while he was under the care of anti-graft officials, has continued to haunt the government since 2009.

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But the Bar Council gets no flak eh? The Bar Council needs to hammer BN too, even sue BN for APARTHEID and lack of :

Najib alone cannot be blamed but is definitely complicit. If all other agencies did their work, Najib would be out of work. UN needs to address the bunch of racists affecting Najib’s judgment. Signing this does not change the above 3 lacks. Bar Council being so supposedly educated and ‘legal’ can see this. Act yet? Or still waiting for moi to sue the Malaysian Government?

(TMI) — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang appeared today to admit that PAS may never entirely abandon its plans to impose hudud for Muslims and had only softened its approach on the matter as the Islamist party knew it could not rule without its non-Muslim allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

But the PAS president offered his word that if implemented, the controversial Islamic penal code would not be imposed on the non-Muslims, shooting down a suggestion yesterday by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“And the rights of non-Muslims are allowed by their own religion … for example, liquor is allowed by their religion … although it is haram in Islam, it is still their right.”

Dr Mahathir had stepped into the hudud fray yesterday, challenging the party to implement hudud for all, including the non-Muslims, in order to be fair.

During the stretch of the party’s annual meet this weekend, the PAS leadership seemed to deliberately dodge the issue of hudud and the party’s Islamic state ideals, moving instead to appear more inclusive with slogans that advocate religious tolerance and acceptance.

But the party’s religious conservatives in the ulama wing and youth members insisted on raising the controversial issue, which has put a strain on PAS’ ties with PR ally DAP.

In his policy speech at the opening of the muktamar, Abdul Hadi focussed on PAS’ plans to improve Malaysia’s economy should PR come to power and skirted around hudud and the implementation of the Islamic state.

But the veteran politician could not avoid the matter today, after PAS continued to find itself the target of critics who complained of the party’s apparent failure to stick to its ideals.

He would not expressly state if PAS would push ahead with its hudud agenda but appeared to suggest that the matter had to be shelved for the sake of its non-Muslim partners in PR.

“We want to rule a country, if it’s just PAS, then it will be impossible (for us) to rule,” he told reporters.

The Marang MP’s remarks today will likely draw more criticism from PAS’ political foes who have often accused the party of straying from its Islamic ideals and bowing down to its allies for the sake of wresting federal power.

PAS also reiterated today that there is no friction between the party and DAP, with which they have gone into collision course on issues such as Islamic state and hudud.

“Don’t equate them disagreeing over hudud, with them rejecting (Islam). It is not the same.”

Abdul Hadi’s statements came after PAS’s religious wing continued to reaffirm its stand on hudud, insisting that it should be implemented if the party wins a significant majority in the next election.

“So far, hudud is still relevant,” said Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad, the Deputy Chief of PAS Ulama wing during the closing speech at the muktamar.

“We will implement hudud in a democratic system if we win a lot of seats. It is not impossible that hudud can be implemented in Malaysia.”

Mahfodz reminded the PAS leadership that they should not forget Islam and hudud while they fight through the next campaign stage to reach Putrajaya.

“A ‘benevolent state’ must be based on the Quran, sunnah and ijtihad … not the -isms which contradict Islam,” he added.

This remark followed the information chief for the women’s wing, Aiman Athirah’s call for delegates to work harder so that PAS can lead Pakatan Rakyat (PR), and for President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to be elected as the prime minister if the party wins in the next election.

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Dials? Whats that an NLP ‘trigger word’, code? Anyway, good to hear that Hudud might not be summarily imposed on Malaysians BUT . . .

Hadi may want to consider if Muslims will be allowed Article 18 of the UN Human Rights Charter rights to Apostasy, and the Non-Muslims will be allowed EQUALITY in all aspects of Law and Constitution, and also for non-Muslims to have RLD and Gambling districts in suitable places in state capitals of appropriate size AS WELL as OPZs (Organic Psychedelic Zones) like Amsterdam has. There are SERIOUS gaps in Hadi’s address and acceptance of PMship, which while tolerable if the above issues are made clear, cannot precede PAS taking up the mantle of the ruling party much less neglect Orang Asli stolen land issues as well as forced conversions of non-Muslims, continuation of Bumiputra Aparthied (perhaps INCLUDE all non-Malays and non-Muslims of a certain wealth level who are willing to apply BUT under no sneak conversion tactics or attempts at proselytization) etc..

Conversely Bumiputra Apartheid could be ended entirely, millions worth Bumi should not get any discounts or special privileges at all, while the poor non-Muslim and non-Malays in fact should. This is a money issue and to ignore politics of non-Muslim rights and equality, this becomes a display of PAS’s inward lookingness and sheer neglect of common sense and civilisation that a PM of any country needs. No problem if Hadi is made PM, but not without address of the above which are innate rights of ALL MANKIND and neglected for oppressive purposes for decades in Malaysia. Malaysia is a single country within the nations of a world, and not a very large or powerful country, needs to address issues as above.

To show he meant business, PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hasan yesterday laid bare his personal assets during the winding down speech at the wing’s muktamar.

Nasrudin, 42, declared that he and his wife, a teacher, both draw an income of RM2,800 and RM4,000 respectively.

He also declared that he had RM9,000 in his bank account.

Out of his monthly RM2,800 income, RM2,500 is allowance from the party for his duties as PAS Youth chief while RM300 is rental income.

The father of six also tabled the breakdown of his monthly expenses comprising of a home loan at RM530 and his vehicle for which he pays RM1,400 monthly.

“Meanwhile my wife is paying loan for her own house at RM1,230 a month. These are the assets I am declaring, that I owned, as a gimmick for the assets declaration proposal, insha Allah that will be followed by all PAS Youth exco members,” he said.

PAS Youth had earlier announced that its executive council members including those not contesting in the coming general election would have to declare their assets.

During the opening of PAS Youth’s general meeting, party deputy president Mohamad Sabu gave his commitment to turn the proposal into a reality, but reminded that assets declaration must also be made at the end of one’s office term.

-Harakahdaily

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Don’t do the Rakyat no favours. Declaring assets is NOTHING AT ALL. Try ending apartheid or extreme religion and even distributing land or housing to the poor OF ALL RACES. Assets only? Big deal? At end of term? WORSE deal. Hiding ‘abit’ is hiding all the same. Why not declare NOW instead of months away so that ‘assets’ can be hidden by then? Who cares if assets are declared AFTER the term? BEFORE the term starts would be meaningful for asset declarations, but ONLY AFTER terms end? Cynical and obviously stalling for time.

ARTICLE 6

Possibly inaccurate but will post to see if any response that can clarify . . .

Theory? Or Truth?

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My theory based guess is that drugs are in fact USED by politicians to astrally project so that they can peek in on others and gain advantage against them, if not illegal cams have been installed everywhere already. Look at the colours the podium speaker is wearing here, Rasta colours. Who knows those with minds too strong will be targeted by GOVERNMENT, or political drug users, which possibly are typical of ALL so-called or organized religions. The hierarchy of religions could well be based around drug taking and hence the desire to illegalise drugs so that the will of the world becomes that of their narrow limited and religious biased one. Perhaps these are not religious men, perhaps these are ADDICTS intent on religious and political control using drugs as a weapon of choice. Please feel free to discuss if the premise is off, or warn to remove if considered offensive – suggestions of a more suitable repost will be appreciated if needed.

A GROUP of transvestites in revealing outfits was detained by religious authorities for trying to offer sexual services.

Sinar Harian reported that they were spotted waiting for customers in Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur.

The six transvestites ran helter-skelter when they saw an enforcement team from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) and officers from the Al-Azim mosque making their rounds at 5am on Thursday.

It was learnt the transvestites charged as low as RM50.

Al-Azim mosque officer Ahmad Nawi Osman said some of the transvestites suffered light injuries when they fell while running up a flight of stairs.

“All of them, aged between 20 and 38, were arrested,” he said, adding that one transvestite disclosed that it was difficult to find work and gain acceptance in society, causing him to resort to such a job.

> Kosmo! reported that the body of a missing two-year-old boy had been found. The body was believed to have been partly eaten by a monitor lizard.

Hadziq Hassan, missing since last Saturday, was found in Segaliud, Sandakan, on Wednesday night.

A surveyor, who was working in the area, made the discovery.

The boy was reported missing at Batu 25, Kampung Garinono after he and his family attended a relative’s wedding in Kampung Manis.

His body was found about 3km from the relative’s house.

Sandakan OCPD Asst Comm Rowell Marong said the body was identified by his family and was sent to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for an autopsy.

> A total of 26 foreign women, including four underaged girls, were detained by the Negri Sembilan Immigration Department for allegedly working as guest relations officers, reported Harian Metro.

The four Vietnamese girls, aged between 14 and 16, were believed to have been tricked into taking up the job at an entertainment centre in Seremban.

State immigration director Faizal Fazri Othman said three of the four girls entered the country using a visitor’s pass while the other girl used a student pass.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Adult services are a human right of non-Muslims and if these transpersons were not Muslim, they should be left alone at least while legal action to ensure proper zones are assigned for such activities for non-Muslims. Luck? These are human rights abuses.

However, he acknowledged that Nik Aziz had been advised by his doctor to go for a check-up every day to treat a “prostate problem”.

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A potential core elite of statesmen, at least in ensuring of separation of powers. Karpal unfortunately represents endemic nepotism and limitless terms as well. Hence Sallehuddin and Datuk Mahfuz Omar have become that much more statesmanlike (do these exceptions stand AGAINST Hudud?) If so, we might be looking at future PMs . . . ) than Karpal, even if the above suggestion which came from moi, was taken up by Karpal. TERM LIMITS and NO FAMILY BLOCS ‘KARPAL’. Any ‘Karipap’ (or Al-Karipap? Karpal . . . ) seller could run for election and win, simply by democratic considerations against nepotism and limitless terms of Karpal and sons. This is GOVERNMENT not a family business.

The Malaysian police know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in the UK know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in Australia, New Zealand, the US, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc., know I live in Manchester. The Malaysian High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur know I live in Manchester. Only Victor Lim alone thinks I live in Dr Mahathir’s apartment in London. He knows that but he does not know what the address is or whether Dr Mahathir really does own an apartment in London.

The most valuable part of a democratic and pluralistic society is the right to choose. Everyone can choose to support anything they think is right.

The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) rally scheduled on November 25 with the objective to pressure the government is a choice of struggle. The United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong) and the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia (Hua Zong) have the right not to participate and choose to correct the unreasonable content in the National Education Blueprint preliminary report through communication and follow-up.

Similar to anti-environment movements, some people chose to take part in the 300km Kuantan-KL Green Walk. Their persistence and perseverance has won respect and admiration.

In politics, people also have the right to choose whether to change the government, strengthen the two-party-system or maintain the status quo.

Changing the government is an ideal and it can hardly become a reality if only a small number of people are supporting it. Therefore, the ruling and alternative coalitions must convey their political programmes and policies to the public through various platforms, including mass assemblies and annual general assemblies to fight for more support.

To me, the Pakatan Rakyat’s performance has not yet reached my personal demand. However, as I believe that democracy requires checks and balances, I support the two-party system. If the majority supports the two-party system, it is possible to bring a major change.

In a democratic country, everyone has the right to choose based on his/her own judgement and cognitive thinking. Therefore, it is not necessary for others to be so nervous or intimidate them into changing their stand.

Many people are confused about the meaning of democracy due to the intense political struggle. Some people are excessively fanatical to the extent of slandering and labelling those who have made a different choice.

French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Who can still remember the words? Many people have instead lost their magnanimity and tolerance and attack whoever say something unpleasant. Democracy should never be like this.

All people make mistakes, regardless of how just they claimed themselves are. Calling themselves just does not mean that they cannot be criticised and corrected.

The BN has indeed made many mistakes and there is much room for improvement. Similarly, the Pakatan Rakyat state governments also have many inadequacies in governance. Being overly emotional has caused everyone unable to see the reality clearly.

Back to the Dong Zong rally, it is a peaceful civil demonstration and it is not necessary to label it as an “anti-government” movement. Adopting the path of dialogue to fight is not “heinous crime” either. Why can’t the Chinese organisations work together to achieve the same goal since all of them are serving the Chinese community? Without tolerance and the sense of balance, it could end up following the path of politics, namely people categorise those who are not called friends as enemies.

Most Chinese affairs are of voluntary or conscience nature. If it evolves into a life-and-death game, the Chinese community will first collapse before the winner of the political game is decided.

Life was boring and monotonic in the past when people were not granted the right to choose. It is good to have choice. But choices also bring us confusion and distress.

As the general election is approaching, people become more and more impetuous. We must first calm down to avoid being diverted by “choices”.

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The day Najib outfoxed all Malaysians…

Victor Lim, Free Malaysia Today

Now, wasn’t it Daim who predicted that five states would fall prior to the 2008 political tsunami? And it was correct – Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

And who and where this prediction was first publicised? Raja Petra Kamarudin’s (RPK’s) Malaysia-Today (MT) news portal.

Malaysians who have been following RPK’s writings were shocked, when after the 2008 general election, he began associating himself with Mahathir – meeting his sifu (master) in his Petronas twin-tower office.

Many could not understand or believe how RPK, who was so vocal against BN-Umno and one of the pioneers of the Free Anwar Reformasi Movement, could make such an about turn.

Many MT readers are still puzzled and cannot believe what was happening and why RPK’s writings started to slant towards Umno.

However, RPK’s slant is now cautiously back to the Opposition, championing the need to change? What’s going on? Simple! The cyber mercenary writer is financially backed by Mahathir and Daim.

In 2008, Mahathir and Daim’s common political pest was Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. So, RPK’s mission was to destabilise and erode support for Umno and Abdullah. It worked wonderfully, and as they say, the rest is history.

Now, Mahathir and Daim’s common political enemy is Najib. And do you now see the similar strategic political attacks from Mahathir and RPK?

If you still don’t believe that Mahathir and Daim are RPK’s sponsors, then you give me the answers to the following questions:

* RPK was the one who came up with the damning statutory declaration that implicated Najib and his wife, Rosmah, in the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and the link to the Scorpene submarines’ graft allegations. Why?

* RPK was picked up by police and then charged. But after he was released on bail, how the hell did such a high profile political figure leave the country undetected?

* Who had the power and influence to facilitate his (RPK’s) migration? This was what I posted about RPK on Sept 10, 2012.

Talk is spreading like wild fire in Malaysia that the famous or infamous cyber operator, depending on which side of the political divide you stand, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, or more popularly referred to as RPK, is residing in an apartment in London belonging to the racist former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed.

RPK can feel free to clarify or attack me as we believe in freedom of speech and democracy, don’t we?

********************************************

When the issue favours the Chinese cause, they will scream democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, the right to choose, agree to disagree, and so on. However, if it does not favour the Chinese cause, they will scream you are a turncoat, traitor, Trojan horse, frog, mole, you have been bought, and much more.

That is the ugly side of the Chinese. Freedom means freedom to agree with me, not freedom to disagree with me.

To people like Victor Lim, if you say or write anything that is perceived as pro-government, then this means you have been paid to do so. What about those who say or write something perceived as pro-opposition? Does this not also mean you have been paid to do so?

No! It does not. That just means you are noble. Those who support the opposition are noble. And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government. It is like religion. Either you are a Muslim or you are a Christian. And if you are not a Christian then you must surely be a Muslim. That is the only logical explanation.

To Victor Lim, your very action of not supporting the opposition is ‘evidence’ you have been paid. Using that same yardstick as ‘proof of guilt’, we will have to assume that Victor Lim is also a paid writer and his master must surely be Tian Chua. Can we, therefore, accept whatever Victor Lim says as the truth? Paid writers like Victor Lim would definitely lie through their teeth.

Victor Lim says he believes in democracy and freedom of speech. But when I exercise my democratic right of freedom of speech he vilifies me. The Malays call this bikin tak serupa cakap. Is this a Chinese cultural thing or what? Is this the best the so-called 5,000 years of Chinese ‘civilisation’ can produce? You appear puzzled as to why very few Malays trust the Chinese. Well, that’s because the Malays know that bikin tak serupa cakap type of people just cannot be trusted.

Probably 50 or more Malaysians have come to my house in Manchester, many of them Malaysians from Malaysia. Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, Zaid Ibrahim, Mat Sabu, Saari Sungib, and many more have all been to my house — some even spent the night at my house.

There are many more Malaysians from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Reading, Scotland — in fact, from almost every city in the UK — who have visited me in Manchester. Yet Victor Lim says: Raja Petra Kamaruddin, or more popularly referred to as RPK, is residing in an apartment in London belonging to the racist former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed.

And he can’t even get the spelling of my name right. It is Raja Petra Kamarudin and not Raja Petra Kamaruddin. And what Free Anwar Reformasi Movement is Victor Lim talking about? Clearly Victor Lim tembak only. There is so such movement called Free Anwar Reformasi Movement. This is a fabrication by Victor Lim.

Anyway, what is the address of Dr Mahathir’s apartment? Does Dr Mahathir even own an apartment in London in the first place? And when did I move in to that apartment?

So you see, Victor Lim is bullshitting because I have never lived in London (at least not since 1956), never mind in whose apartment in London. I have been living in Manchester since the day I arrived. In fact, my family has been living in Manchester for 11 years now, since 2001, eight years before I came over.

The Malaysian police know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in the UK know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in Australia, New Zealand, the US, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc., know I live in Manchester. The Malaysian High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur know I live in Manchester. Only Victor Lim alone thinks I live in Dr Mahathir’s apartment in London. He knows that but he does not know what the address is or whether Dr Mahathir really does own an apartment in London.

Can you see how they lie? And to these types of people lying comes under the category of freedom of speech. But if you were to reply to that lie, that is not considered freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means they can say things about you but you can’t say things about them.

Budaya apa ni? Budaya 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation ke?

Victor Lim also said: Malaysians who have been following RPK’s writings were shocked, when after the 2008 general election, he began associating himself with Mahathir – meeting his sifu (master) in his Petronas twin-tower office.

In fact, in the 2006 PKR annual general assembly in Penang, Azmin Ali whacked me in his speech. And Anwar Ibrahim sat there on stage smirking like the cat that had swallowed the canary as Azmin Ali whacked me for ‘bersekongkong dengan Dr Mahathir Mohamed’.

Hence, if you want to accuse me of ‘collaborating’ with Dr Mahathir then this collaboration started more than six years ago and two years before the 2008 general election. And if I had collaborated with Dr Mahathir more than six years ago and two years before the 2008 general election, how can I be a turncoat? A turncoat is someone who changes sides. I never changed sides after the 2008 general election. I have been with Dr Mahathir since two years BEFORE the 2008 general election.

And do you know what? Many PAS and DAP leaders — and many of them top leaders at that, too — also attended that 24th June 2006 dialogue with Dr Mahathir. Even the ex-PKR Deputy President turned up. So what have you got to say about all those PAS, DAP and PKR leaders who attended that dialogue with Dr Mahathir organised by Malaysia Today at the Kelab Century Paradise on 24th June 2006?

In the Kota Bharu dialogue the following month, the Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, attended the session and shared the stage with Dr Mahathir. He also attended the dinner in honour of Dr Mahathir that same night. Nik Aziz felt he needed to play host to the ex-Prime Minister since he (Nik Aziz) is, after, all the Menteri Besar of Kelantan.

Maybe the Pakatan Rakyat supporters should learn how to tell the truth for once. You accuse Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, NST, The Star, TV3, RTM, etc. of lying. But what difference are the opposition supporters? You are as blatant in your lying as the people you accuse of lying.

And why do you not respond, point-by-point, to the issues I have raised? I have been raising many issues since the mid-1990s — ever since I first started writing for Harakah in 1997 and I first launched my own website in 1994. What I am saying now is what I have been saying for the last 18 years. What am I saying now that I did not say back in the 1990s?

If I am wrong then rebut me with what you think is the truth. But you don’t do that. Instead of replying, you just hurl allegations against me and totally ignore what I say. And the only ‘rebuttal’ thus far is just a plain denial. Denial is no defence. If it is then Najib Tun Razak never met Altantuya Shaariibuu since he has denied meeting her.

In short, you know what I say is correct and you know there is no way you can rebut what I say. Hence you ignore what I say and do not reply to it and instead make all sorts of allegations, which are very far from the truth.

This is just like those Umno blogs that say I live in London and that one day I was so drunk I fell into a monsoon drain. Many kampong-minded Umno supporters who have never been to London and do not know that the UK does not have a monsoon season and London does not have monsoon drains will, of course, believe this story.

These opposition diehards are just the reverse of the same coin called Umno. They are all cut from the same cloth. Their doctrine is: you are free to agree with me but God help you if you say something that I don’t like.

Oh, by the way, take a look at the picture below. Today, some people in PAS are saying that they want Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang instead of Anwar Ibrahim to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general election. I already ‘said’ this four years ago. And if you can’t interpret what that picture means then you are dumber than I thought.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

i) No! It does not. That just means you are noble. Those who support the opposition are noble. And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government. It is like religion. Either you are a Muslim or you are a Christian. And if you are not a Christian then you must surely be a Muslim. That is the only logical explanation.

Noble?!? Seeing Pakatan’s 90% failed manifesto lies and ethical or democratic (nepotistic) flaws for what DAP is, is noble. To praise those who support Pakatan as noble – is not noble.

ii) And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government.

Inculpating hegelian dialectic thought still eh? Either or? How about ‘none of the above’? Better yet, how about ‘make your own option’ or make your own political party or run for candidacy as an independent candidate. RPK is not a democratic man, and spins propaganda that kills freedom of thought as well as skews facts. Pakatan is a failure as bad as BN. The 3rd Force indies among citizens could likely be better than eithetr BN or PR, so please don;t try to make lies into truth. Money cannot buy breeding as much as breeding cannot buy HONESTY and ETHICS which are prerequisite to the status of NOBILITY. If for love the people RPK, or love for democracy, this sort of article will never appear on media. The readers should know what RPK represents by now.

iii) The ugly side of the Chinese

Apartheid and racism directed at any race, will bring out the very worst of any race. Who threw the first blow here? Not the Chinese. Look in the mirror and decide if racism or apartheid is what reflects . . . Enuff said.

Looks like the Constitutional Lawsuit needs to be carried out by unknowns, to ensure :

Does power always rely on threat? Why is fair mindedness so elusive to some sorry souls?

Man seeks equality and fair treatment, but threats of murder and nasty tricks (like cement pools for the love of semen rather than EQUALITY) are the signs of mental illness and techno-fascism. Fight fair and find that some low minded dhimmitudisation a certain race holds to, have no part of Humanity’s future much like apes who did not use fire, or understand that the Human Rights Charter is not something a country signs for fun, nor being a Muslim allows for such blatant displays of ill meaning natures, bronze souls do not belong in the arena of words (and will be treated to what they deserve) and those with so much who want to take even more from even equality, that will threaten for mere monetary gain, need to talk to the clerics at Al-Azhar University, search their souls at their so-called Kabaa of Islam before threatening people with death which will never be on the side of the unjust and profane . . . are we to understand that there is no religion and only politics and murder in Malaysia and a certain coalition, much less at very least ethics? Everything these UMNO or BN people have today is from the idiotic voting choice of the taxpayers and now these guys dare threaten the 99% who made them? Disappointing.

Let me start by asking you these questions. Does Islam encourage you to devastate the forests? Does Islam encourage you to wipe out your wildlife? Does Islam encourage you to fuck up minority communities (e.g. the Orang Asli)? Does Islam encourage you to venture into business without knowing head or tail of that business? Does Islam encourage you to repeat your mistakes, year in, year out for 20 years? Does Islam encourage you to close your eyes to the rape of your land?

The answer is obvious. Of course, Islam DOES NOT encourage you to do all these things. But I think the Kelantan MB Nik Aziz and his merrymen from PAS have a different understanding than the rest of us.

I first visited Lojing Highlands, Kelantan was in 1991. Nik Aziz was already the MB of Kelantan then. The area was a mess. Vast tracts of forest were being cleared to make way for agriculture. And these were pristine highland forests at elevations ranging from 500m – 1500m. Tens of thousands of hectares were given away to State government linked companies as well as friendly parties to develop highland agriculture.

The state government mantra then was “if the farmers in Cameron Highlands can do it, so can we”. The geniuses in Kelantan at that time thought they could replicate Cameron Highlands which at that time had a total 2000 hectares of agriculture land. They thought if 2000 hectares in CH can produce RM x million revenue, then opening 20,000 hectares in Lojing will produce RM 10x million.

They forgot something very important. The farmers in Cameron Highlands have had 50 years of farming experience in the highlands. Their farms were small, averaging 1 – 2 hectares. They were individual farmers who slogged their butts off for managing even a 2-hectare farm in the mountains was a major undertaking. No sane person will open up thousands of hectares in the highlands to do farming.

I returned to Lojing several times since. 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2011. Nothing has changed. Highland forests are continuously being opened up on large scale (obviously the geniuses in Kelantan have not learnt anything about highlands agriculture). Obviously, some people are making tonnes of money from the timber that is being ripped off from the so-called “agriculture land”. The rivers have silted up. Wildlife has disappeared. The Orang Asli communities are worse off than they were 20 years ago.

Hills being ripped off for so-called “agriculture”

Free teh tarik anyone? The once pristine Sg. Brooke and Sg. Belatop are now just mud flows.

Logging is still widespread in Lojing. This is despite the national policy prohibiting logging at elevations above 1000m.

This is where teh tarik comes from. Land opened up for “agriculture” with almost no erosion control measures.

Most of the agriculture development in Lojing have failed. The companies benefitted from selling of the timber from the thousands of hectares of land given to them. The 1000-hectares Yakin tea plantation has been abandoned (yo, you dungus in Nik Aziz’s office – just because Boh can manage a tea plantation, does not mean that you also can. Boh is in that business. You are not. You just plundered that 1000 hectares). PKINK was given over 1000 hectare for orchards and agro-tourism – sampai sekarang habuk pun tak ade.Kayu balak dah lesap.

Land ownership in Lojing Highlands. I am sorry if you can’t read the map. Almost 30,000 hectares have been given away to state-linked companies and state agencies and friendly companies over the past 20 years. Almost zero productivity expect for the timber that has been taken away. Mind you these are all highland country with mostly steep slopes.

A few Chinese farmers from Cameron Highlands who leased small areas from Kelantan state government linked companies are doing pretty well. Other than that, agriculture output from Lojing is minimal – despite it being more than 20 years since Nik Aziz and his merrymen opened and devastated Lojing. None of the state government linked companies and state agencies have produced anything substantial despite wiping out over 20,000 hectares of pristine highland forests Nothing. Kosong. Telor ayam. In every aspect, Lojing has been a disaster.

The environmental cost must be epic. The amount of erosion and sedimentation from Lojing must run into the hundreds of millions of tonnes over the past 20 years. The once gorgeous Sg. Brooke and its tributaries are now nothing but mud flows. An area that was rich in wildlife is now pretty pathetic. Great damage was inflicted onto the Orang Asli communities in Pos Brooke, Pos Hendrop and Pos Blau. All their water sources were destroyed. The forests that they depended for food and other produce were devastated. The orang asli traditional land were given to outsiders or usurped by state agencies.

If you think I am lying, I suggest you take a drive to Lojing. It is just an hour or less from Cameron Highlands. See the damages for yourself. The rape has been going on continuously for more than 20 years.

I would like to end my story by asking Nik Aziz this “Is this Islamic?”

I counted 300 timber trucks on the Gua Musang road coming out of the Lojing area nearly 15 years ago. Still have the photographs….
Little point in condemning the decisions/actions that have lead to the present dire consequences. Perhaps we ought to consider instead how & what can be done to heal the Lojing scar of our apolitical MotherEarth in some truly creative ways.
November 11, 2012 10:05 AM
@CK said…

the way Kelantan is administered is an insult to Islam. Kelantan is now the poorest state in Malaysia, has the highest rape, incest and HIV cases. All the smart Kelantanese have left the state.
November 11, 2012 6:24 PM
@Lisa said…

Everybody did it. When I fly in Europe and look down on the landscape, there is not a single, not a single piece of land undeveloped. Not a single small hill. You can take off from Amsterdam and land in The Prague and you will not find it. I’ve been through this frustration on seeing how our land has been bled since the 90s and cried and wrote to newspapers, but I must say, and I’m sorry but it was pointless.
November 12, 2012 9:11 AM

@Cat-from-Sydney said…

Your Royal Monyetness,
We have visited this place many times and still cry when we see the scars on Mother Earth. Will be there again next week, hopefully with better results as cooperation from the natives is quite difficult to obtain. purrrr….meow!
November 12, 2012 9:17 AM

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Rivers should have a 1km ‘off limits’ buffer or green lung. Water tables perhaps a minimum of 10km worth. As for cultivation or farming, micromanagement is reliant on the ‘energy’ of individuals, so mass produced versions will never have the same quality, or as the article suggests will fail entirely or at least take longer than usual. A farmer of tea has ‘tea energy’, city people without any energy but city energy will not be able to grow anything, and MUST start from microscale (heck some can’t even tend garden) before ‘managing’ massive plantations. Farm conglomerates might possibly be impossible from land alone, the heart and interest of the person MUST be there, or all cultivation will not be comparable. This must also be considered against environment and the spiritual nature of the area a product is from. TEA from an Islamic prayer ‘ridden/infested’ area (Islam strip mines spiritually IMHO, thats why all those forests tend to become deserts or urban deserts wherever Muslims are) and will not be bought by markets, and that is why Chinese neutrality has made so much Chinese produce somehow so buyable, or Thai rice for example (which still has dangerously Buddhist leanings . . . ).

COFFEE from Islamic prayer ‘ridden/infested’ areas like UAE, most of Malaysia or even less secular parts of Indonesia (civet cat pre-pooped or not) will also be doomed to failure, simply because the buyers do not want to be Islamised by proxy. Conversely consider why Brazilian (sea, surf and bootay!) coffee ‘somehow’ seems superior – thats because there are no robed ghosties of locals hovering around the plants after hours with intent to ‘Islamise’. AT least in occult theory informed buyers at least, products from ‘religious’ areas are UNBUYABLE perhaps excepting the ‘Wuwei’ mentality of the Chinese (inaction) that actually improves a product by sheer non-investment of the pathos that other religions infuse their products with! Intent (or NEUTRALITY of intent) gives the product pedigree, and only the most secular producers can win in this game (which is why USA’s fanchises are somewhat ahead, though tainted by Freemasonry to a degree). Spiritual CLEANLINESS/NEUTRALITY of food is CRITICAL for sales assurances.

Tea from fundo heartland Malaysia? Forget that, India and China takes the cake FOREVER instead where tea is concerned. Though coconuts as well from India have the same pollution, the informed had better give the Indian grown coconuts or coconut products a wide berth. The whole gamut of Malaysian products is thus spiritually POLLUTED, and for a generalised (and cautiously presumptuous) example, from experiences at WW2, Austwictz may have just made German products that much more ethical (Nazi SS used alot of occultism, but since they have given up on that, the products PERHAPS are superiorly secular where applicable, though Caucasian obsession with the Aramean faith of Xianity and Xianity’s brand of proselytization could still down them, Judaism’s conversions are far more subtle but equally manipulative to no point as all 3 Monotheisms are Amon-Ra derived which was the invention of the reviled heretic Pharoah in any case – bring back the original faith systems regionally to put an end to the insanity . . .)

Then consider education and religious education (even more dangerous) and here you have the reasons for failures of such and such races. The spiritual hostility/manipulation guarantees failure. Let me say though what Malaysia might be worth – low density/nomadic ORANG ASLI UBAT *from* rainforests that could be worth a fortune, but all Malaysia has now are sprawling grey expanses of prayer blaring in neighbourhoods of backbiting political wannabes filled with greed and hatred towards other races and of course the faux-Arab ulama wannabes harrassing all and sundry with Hudud, all of the above who have who forgotten their beautiful naturistic Orang Asli beginnings.

So much for Malaysia’s viability and uniqueness, just a spiritual colony of the Arabs who already are more known for violent puishments (Hudud limb hacking, beheading), religious insularism (this and that are polluting/polluted these people are beneath us! / different God or Godless so are enemeies immediately/must be cursed to go to Hell (which might be an semi-dream state world as much as Heaven, created from constant inculpation while ALIVE so when dying hallucinates about, or has the inculpated NDE type experience) – luckily there are more people and better tech armed nations to counter thse barbarians), low tolerance to other cultures (eat pork or drink alcohol so entire peoples must be targeted, facilities for processing disallowed etc..) and terrorism (drawing a bomb turban cartoon means innocent people not involved in the 10th Crusade, who have never ever heard of the Prophet must die while on the way to work in a subway or have their Twin Towers collapse) than anything else. Islam is a copy of Xianity which is a copy of Judaism which is a copy of Amon-Ra which was a result of Heretic Pharoah Akenathan’s LAZINESS. Guess those 72 virgins might have been guess who’s fond mirage while struggling in a hellish oasis bordering a desert creating hell on Earth – how about a volcanic region called New Hell in the deepest desert, would be fitting . . .

Islam and Arabism is unique and very distinct, but bloodthirsty, impractical, too martial and not viable for this generation of YoutubeVid/MTV making, subculture studied, politically aware world citizens who’d rather be eating whatever meat of their choice (including PORK), drinking alcohol, smoking pot and contemplating the Universe (while dressed in BDSM fetish wear or Cosplay?) than irritating/trying to destroy peoples, communities, countries (at very last being manipulatively sanctimonious about being vegetarian) that are different from them. Religion belongs to the last millenia, and though religion should be kept alive and have spaces, cannot be allowed to impinge on secular people, legally, spiritually or otherwise. There must be spaces for all even if any group’s beliefs/activities are supposedly illegal to another – with the choice of consent to be part of any community the democratic choice of the individual ABOVE the preference of the state.

GEORGE TOWN- The DAP disciplinary committee will decide the fate of Pulau Tikus assemblyman Koay Teng Hai after he failed to turn up at the recent state assembly meeting.

Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow said the state working committee had decided to refer Koay’s absence at the meeting between Nov 1 and 9 to the disciplinary committee.

Chow said the disciplinary committee will be made up of a five-member panel. They will be drawn from the central executive committee and headed by Tan Kok Wai.

It was reported Koay would also face disciplinary action for ignoring Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s refusal to approve his leave.

He missed the assembly to attend a meeting on the United States Election/Project for Young Political Leaders organised by the US embassy without Lim’s permission. Koay could not be reached for comment.

– New Straits Times

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

F**k DAP. Who cares what DAP thinks? Only the RAKYAT living in Pulau Tikus will decide if the Pulau Tikus adun stays or not! Maybe DAP will be replaced by independent candidates by the next GE. DAP has failed 90% of campaign manifestos and has NEVER addressed APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA.

ARTICLE 14

Yes, you must behave, Bung — Erna Mahyuni – November 22, 2012

Nov 22 — You have to admire the Kinabatangan MP on some level. No other MP gladly puts his foot in his mouth with so much relish, you begin to wonder if his foot is delicious.

Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin in person is an affable man, who prides himself on his “every man” demeanour, and talks more like your drunk uncle than a lawmaker.

The problem is, Bung, is that you’re not just an embarrassing family member but an elected Member of Parliament.

There are expectations that come with the role, unfortunately.

One of them is the realisation that you can’t just say what you want, when you want.

Being an elected representative means there are standards of behaviour we expect you to meet.

At the very least, you shouldn’t swear, in public, especially at one of the people you are hoping votes for you in the next election.

Must I remind you GE13 is just around the corner???We’re all allowed a slip of the tongue once in a while. We’re all human, after all.

The problem with you, Bung, is that you don’t so much “slip”, as much as “stab” with your tongue.??What is unacceptable is that your Barisan Nasional leaders let you get away with your outrageous statements.

That bocor statement you made all that time ago? It was chauvinistic, rude and unacceptable. You didn’t just slur an opposition MP but all women. You have never apologised for that, have you? Don’t get me started on your smart remarks about women drivers.

But your greatest act of chauvinism, Bung, was ignoring the law of the land by refusing to ask permission from your first wife to marry your second. I can understand you were impatient, as your new wife is such a pretty young thing.

Did you forget you’re an elected official? Aren’t elected officials supposed to, you know, follow the rules?

Instead, you hopped off to Thailand for a quickie wedding and, unfortunately, got caught.??Being an MP doesn’t put you above the law.

If anything, you’re supposed to obey and uphold it. ??So it’s a little rich, your defending your right to use the F-word to ‘put someone in his/her place’.

You gave up that right when you took your oath. ??As a representative of the people, you are supposed to be someone we look up to. You are supposed to set an example.

You are supposed to maintain a code of conduct that we expect you to follow, because if you can’t follow it, then why should we???Some people think that calling you out for it in public is ‘sensationalising a non-issue’.

I beg to differ.

In other countries, MPs using foul words in public is frowned upon as well.

People are going to call you names and insult you.

Get used to it. As an MP, you must take the higher ground and ignore those who call you names.

As someone who gets plenty of insults on Twitter and in my column’s comments, I understand the need to vent.

But Twitter isn’t the place for it, Bung, and you know that.

All we’re asking from you is that you show a little class and save the F-word for occasions when half of Malaysia can’t hear you.

So behave, Bung.

Or we’ll have no qualms whatsoever not to vote for you or anyone you champion.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Erna versus Bung . . . polygamy is not exclusively a preserve OR punching bag of any culture (ancient or modern), and more an expression of individuals in relation to other individuals commitment in numbers more than 2 . . . Radin or Raden btw is an ORIGINAL Indonesian name, without Islam’s/Arab’s influence. So at least 1 person in the MALAY Dewan has 2/3rds of a truly Nusantaran name . . .

WHAT? Even most adults of the day do not ask their parents if they can marry who and who, much less a wife, though consultations may take place.

There must be though certain courtesies that the civilised 2nd wife should respect AFTER marriage that a blackball by society can retaliate by at very most if they do not treat the first wife with general respect as expected in society (i.e. ‘CHIVALRY’ to the first wife, like pouring drinks or opening doors – this politeness contrived or not is for the pleasure and dignity of the HUSBAND btw.

The second wife should defer to the first wife in certain ways such as not being ‘competitive’ or not being arrogant (the begum of the harem must be respected because families are built around seniority based hierarchy to a degree – even if the first wife is not well studied or very educated or even pretty etc. . . . MANNERS makes for attractiveness and a dignified family), though the first wife may by reason that sex is available from the second or subsequent, refuse at reasonable intervals not more than 50% (or 66% in the case of 2 wives) of what was asked for in the past by the husband – barring ageing libidos.

The first wife also remains married to the husband *specifically* for the face of the children hereon, even in the case of chilled relations between her and the husband. But to ASK PERMISSION to marry? Whats wrong with you Erna?

As discussed in my blog elsewhere, SOME (only some) women experience a change in their bodies after having children, and this can also be a reason to refuse sex, and this also becomes the reason the husband gets a second or subsequent wife. Being a modern woman or even a lesbian or a feminist does not mean that older forms of family do no exist, Erma has not been mixing around alot with polygamous families even as androgamous families are anathema to the polygamous ones. You’re showing your narrow minded side here Erma!

No where Erna’s response is concerned. NO, anyone who has more than one wife NEED NOT behave in the way Erna Mahyuni describes. Erna doesn’t belong in Bung’s society (or harem), not should Erna cast stones at cultures that do not involve Erna. One of Erna’s lines of logic is viable though, MPs need more class AND term limits as well, so in calls for Bung to step down, Erna and moi will be on the same side though not for the same reasons (with Ernha’s reasoning stemming from some inadequacy or simplistic mindset that feels a need to attack Bung’s right to marry freely as much as Bung’s first wife has a right to demand a divorce (which is not happening as of this comment posting at any rate). Inverse jealousy perhaps? Hey there’s always plastic surgery . . .

ARTICLE 15

Muezzin of Pahang state mosque killed in accident – November 17, 2012

KUANTAN, Nov 17 — A muezzin of Sultan Ahmad 1 state mosque was killed in a road accident at the traffic junction near Jalan Tun Ismail here, this morning.

Under unwritten spiritual covenents of all religions, no intent for sneaky proselytization via vocalised psychic intent will be tolerated by ‘God’, or the following of whatever faith. All muezzins should sing with NEUTRALITY and sincerity and ONLY IN SPECIFIC PSYCHIC ADDRESS to consensual Muslims. I even heard a muezzin GARGLING while singing, obviously intended to proselytize that when a person gargles, they are ‘praying’ – this form of dishonesty is as damnable in ‘god’s’ view, as slurred satanic prayers in conventional lyrics in music (also NLP mispronunciations), a parent intentionally encouraging their children to make a ruckus to disturb the neighbours, or inserting ‘convertive symbolism’ in MTVs of any sort.

Ethics in INFORMED CONSENT or else the spirit that made a muezzin a Muslim will depart for the nearest best converted person and the muezzin will be spiritually impacted at least, hurt or even DIE, this could be anyone that hears the muezzin and is converted. The worthiest UNCONVERTED person will receive the ‘spirit’ of the muezzin. Needless to say a muezzin needs to have very clear intent while singing and being heard by so many that are not Muslim or may not even be friendly to Muslims, a muezzin’s job is particularly hazardous as opposed to the Ulama who is heard ONLY by the faithful. The only caveat of safety for the muezzin is an attitude of deference to those auditorily impinged by the prayer, even if just vaguely like a mosquito in the background, the spiritual effects in the astral and ethereal will be potentially quite dangerous. For Prophet had said :

Ayah 203 of Surah A’raaf: “Disrespect and rashness clouds the mind and it is only politeness and respect that brings more divine mercy.’

Singing WITH intent to convert without informed consent is RUDE and Allah will have no protection for those who behave in a disrespectful manner to non-Muslims who are minding their own business before being disturbed by a prayer they didn’t want to hear, disturbing their concentration which is their god given right. Some people (regardless of faith or wealth or position – an ordinary secular citizen, itinerant or beggar, who was asleep or resting enjoying the silence, might have been subconsciously been lending strength to a Mujaheedin in battle before the prayer of the Muezzin woke them up, causing the Mujaheedin to weaken at a critical moment and lose the battle in a critical region of the world where battles for/against Islam are continuing . . . or technical malfunctions in vehicles (even dangerous dimensional or temporal disruptions, releases of EMP type effects that interact with the ionosphere or even the Sun causing Earthquakes or Solar Flares etc..) may even be doing ‘god’s’ work, before a prayer disturbs them and hence god will punish the offender. Prayer by voice rather than loudspeaker though must be fairly tolerated, though again a prayer must not be ‘directed’ at any except to ‘god’ and for Human Rights and Democratic Principle respecting matters preferably.

ARTICLE 16

From Kuantan to Dataran Merdeka: The emancipatory journey for a green Malaysia — Boon Kia Meng – November 22, 2012

NOV 22 — Humans make history; but never in circumstances and situations of their own choosing. This insightful observation by Marx, as he watched over the social upheavals unfolding in Europe in the middle of the 19th century, is a timely expression on what is happening in Malaysia today.

Have Malaysians ever heard of a group of ordinary, fellow Malaysians — our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, our children — marching slowly but surely, on foot, all 300 kilometres of it, rain or shine, from Kuantan to Dataran Merdeka? All united in a common cause: to stop any further environmental degradation in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak, where stopping the Lynas rare earth refinery in Gebeng, and the Murum and Baram dams in Sarawak, constitutes a fundamental demand.

These Malaysian citizens chose to embark on this journey (dubbed “Langkah Lestari”) because for far too long we have collectively as a nation allowed indiscriminate “development” and rapacious capitalistic resource extraction to go on, all in the name of economic growth and wealth creation.

Just witness the rapid decimation of our natural forestry and the displacement of our fellow indigenous Malaysian communities in Sabah/Sarawak and the peninsula. These have become common phenomena and Malaysians know deep inside that the present state of affairs cannot go on indefinitely without irreversible consequences to our common habitat.

It was their spirit and determination that drew me and my friends to join them in their walk for environmental justice. Donning green shirts and a peasant farmer’s hat, we experienced first-hand what ordinary Malaysians can achieve when they organise themselves, a trend that typifies the sea change in people’s attitude and participation in citizenship activism since 2008.

Ordinary mothers arrange lodgings and food distribution, grandpas and grandmas providing moral support with their feet and encouraging words, fathers managing logistic details, while the young, even little children, learn to take their first baby steps in authentic environmentalism and love for the country.

In other words, “Langkah Lestari” epitomises what has been truly essential in any democratic movement for bringing real social change: the twin values of self-organisation and mutual aid. Against these values, no authoritarian state or oppressive regime can stand a chance. Ordinary citizens, learning to organise themselves, little by little, will win the hearts and minds of the majority of the populace.

Make no mistake. The detractors and spokespersons for corporate and vested interests, such as Lynas Corp, will try to justify the viability of their operations on the grounds of economic development and job creation. Malaysian citizens have to judge for themselves whether this “win-win” deal is really beneficial for the country, especially for the residents in Gebeng/Kuantan.

What are Malaysians getting in exchange for the 12-year tax holiday given to Lynas, estimated at RM1.8 billion per annum, not to mention the billions of ringgit of revenue Lynas will generate from these operations? In reality, this is a classic case of neoliberal capitalism in action: the privatisation of profits, whilst socialising the costs, both human and environmental.

In the Lynas case, it is even more farcical, where we have a case of a foreign mining corporation, which is reaping stratospheric profits as a result of the Western Australian mining boom, deciding to externalise its social costs to another country. Instead of acting as protector and guardian of her citizens’ security and well-being, the Malaysian government has abdicated that role for the sake of endless capital accumulation.

It is no wonder that people from all walks of life are seeing through the lies of neoliberal ideology and deciding to leave the sidelines and join this struggle. The patronising dogma of big business that preaches wealth trickling down to the masses is increasingly hollow and losing its ideological hold on the people.

Try telling the Orang Asal brothers and sisters from Sarawak, who are marching daily with their Semenanjung compatriots, on the merits of an unfettered, free market economy that promises prosperity for all. Our indigenous brothers and sisters will tell you about the true face of “economic development”, where countless thousands of them have experienced forced displacement, land grabbing and environmental destruction.

Politicians from both sides wax lyrical about the need for more development and allocation funds for Sabah and Sarawak. They fail to see that uneven development and destruction of traditional forms of living have led to increasing proletarianisation (making them wage-earners, instead of their traditional self-sufficient farming existence) of our indigenous peoples, precisely what a capitalist economy cannot fail but generate.

These are the hard truths made visible by this 300km walk. It forces us to confront the dark, hidden side of our exploitative economy and its unsustainable ecological trajectory.

This brings us back to the significance of this Sunday, November 25, in the history of this nation. The marchers have decided to occupy Dataran Merdeka once they reach there, awaiting the presence of the prime minister and Members of Parliament from both sides of the political divide the very next morning.

Again ordinary Malaysians like them face the arbitrary exercise of state power in the hands of City Hall and the police when the mayor of KL said that no gathering in Dataran is allowed without an application for permit. We know that the upsurge of participation of Malaysians in public protests since Bersih 3.0 is no historical accident. The momentum of people’s movements will only grow stronger and stronger by the day and “Himpunan Hijau 2.0: Langkah Lestari” in Dataran Merdeka this Sunday will be no different. Thousands upon thousands of Malaysians will be there, come what may.

As I sat in the room with our fellow marchers, listening to the children of Bentong sing a song dedicated to their struggle, I felt strangely emotional. It was as if their voices helped us peer into a future of a new Malaysia that is taking shape right before our eyes. Of its shape and detail, no one could tell with any certainty. But one thing is for sure. It will be a Malaysia very different from the present one, burdened by her heavy history of class and environmental exploitation, and ethnic-based political ideologies.

“Those who do not move, do not notice their chains,” the radical democrat Rosa Luxemburg once said. Thank you, participants of Langkah Lestari, for walking and making Malaysians conscious of the shackles that are enslaving us. Thank you, Saudara Wong Tack (the organising chairperson), for reminding all Malaysians that true emancipation lies in our very own hands: “Pilihan di tangan kita!”

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Wildebeest walk even further and every single year of their life, not just once, but only are fodder for Crocodiles of the Nile, the predators along the way. REAL Emancipation is not feeling proud about walking or cycling around mindlessly but fighting for :

The greenest society can form, but if minorities are not equals but dhimmis who subvert intent of the articles and words for freedom and equality, there will be no dignity of life for non-Muslims and in general non-politicians. Pakatan sure has alot of ‘fun’ activities to distract the Rakyat from equality eh? And the biggest cheerleader of this sort of accept Hudud (actually not thats accept ‘Hadi’ but we all know that can become Hudud since hadi has not addressed the concerns of Article 4’s response above) but don’t address Bumiputera b.s. is term limitless, nepotistic DAP . . .

BRUSSELS, Oct. 4, 2012 (Reuters) — Regulators and operators should act now to improve safety at nuclear power plants, the EU energy commissioner said on Thursday, following inspections across the European Union.
European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger speaks at a news conference on the EU Nuclear Stress Tests in Brussels October 4, 2012. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The stress tests, carried out in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, found safety improvements costing between 10 billion ($12.90 billion) and 25 billion euros were necessary in European plants, a draft seen by Reuters showed this week.

“We therefore think that we should talk together with operators and regulatory authorities to act rapidly so that the highest possible standards can be guaranteed very soon.”

One of the lessons of Fukushima was that two natural disasters could strike at the same time and knock out the electrical supply system of a plant completely, so it could not be cooled down.

The stress tests sought to avert any repeat of that series of events by establishing whether nuclear plants can withstand natural disasters, aircraft crashes and management failures, as well as whether adequate systems are in place to deal with power disruptions.

Among the findings were that on-site seismic instruments should be installed or improved in 121 reactors.

In addition, 24 reactors did not have a back-up emergency room in case the main control room became uninhabitable.

LIMITS OF EU POWER

Because EU authorities do not have power to determine the energy mix of member states, the stress tests were voluntary, but Oettinger said they would not just be “put in a drawer”.

“We are at the beginning of a new European safety dynamic,” he said.

He confirmed the Commission would follow up with legislative proposals early next year to enhance safety.

The proposals would include insurance and liability, but Oettinger said it was not yet clear what that might mean for electricity bills.

Austria, which banned nuclear plants in 1974, said the stress tests were “good, but not good enough”.

Rebecca Harms, a Green member of the European Parliament, told Reuters Television the stress tests report had dodged the tough questions, but said they had still served to highlight the problems.

“Mr Oettinger has done the debate on lacking security standards a great favor,” she said.

She added that the tests had “produced a handsome list of deficiencies, showing that there is a large deficit of security standards in every country that runs nuclear power plants”.

ASN, the nuclear regulator in France, which relies on atomic energy for about 75 percent of its power, was highly critical of the report, saying “some important recommendations had been ignored”.

It has already said France needs to invest billions of euros.

The chief inspector of Britain’s nuclear plants, Mike Weightman, who also made recommendations for improvements after Fukushima, said: The stress test process was a valuable exercise, reinforcing the conclusions we had reached here in the UK”.

(Additional reporting by Oliver Denzer; Michael Shields in Vienna; Marion Douet in Paris; editing by William Hardy and Jason Neely)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

No power? Rubbish. If a nuclear plant in some 3rd world trash heap or corrupted 1st world colluding cut corner type nation is going to irradiate the world destroying ecosystems and humanity eventually, the UN should send peacekeepers to dismantle the nuke plant and bury all nuclear parts and place bans on that nation. Hear that peacekeepers? When that nuke plant blows, nothing on the planet will be left unirradiated, INCLUDING the UN peacekeepers’ families. Nuclear is too messy and likely spiritually wrong. Switch to solar or fusion instead and not worry about storage of nuclear waste and terrorists targeting nukes.

(CNN) – Mitt Romney said he was “completely wrong” when he argued that nearly half of Americans were “victims” and dependent on government.

The admission came Thursday as the GOP presidential candidate sought to clarify his controversial “47%” comments.

– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

– Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.

“Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you’re going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” Romney said on Fox News. “In this case, I said something that’s just completely wrong.”

Last month, secretly recorded video of Romney at a May fundraiser showed the Republican candidate saying 47% of Americans will vote for President Barack Obama “no matter what.”

“There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.”

Romney ads: U.S. can’t afford four more years of Obama

The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates that for tax year 2011, 46% of households will end up owing nothing in federal income taxes. But if payroll taxes are counted, the number of non-payer households drops precipitously – to an estimated 18% in 2011.

Adding to his argument about entitlement, Romney said his “job is not to worry about those people.”

“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” he added.

“What I have to do is convince the 5 percent to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful.”

After the videos, which were posted on the progressive news website Mother Jones, caught fire, Romney called a last-minute press conference with pool reporters while he was in California at the time.

The former Massachusetts governor acknowledged the comments were “off the cuff” and “not elegantly stated,” but he defended the main point of the message, saying he was criticizing the increasing size of government and entitlement programs.

“We have a very different approach – the president and I – between a government-dominated society and a society driven by free people pursuing their dreams,” Romney said.

The following day, Romney still stuck by his comments and elaborated on the logistical reasoning behind his remarks.

With Ryan by his side, Romney rallies Virginians in debate victory lap

“We were of course talking about a campaign and how he is going to get close to half the vote,” Romney said. “I’m going to get half the vote, I hope, I want to get 50.1% or more. Frankly we have two very different views about America.”

In the first presidential debate Wednesday, Obama surprised political observers by not going after Romney on the comments, as he has on the campaign trail in the last two weeks.

On Fox News Thursday night, Romney was asked what he would have said if the president had brought up the controversial statements–which is when the GOP nominee went as far as to say he was “wrong.”

He then argued that, if elected, he would represent all Americans, not just half.

“I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100% and that’s been demonstrated throughout my life. And this whole campaign is about the 100%. When I become president, it will be helping the 100%.”

What’s your reaction to Mitt Romney saying his secretly recorded comment that nearly half of Americans were victims dependent on government was “completely wrong?” Share your thoughts below or using the hashtag #47percent.

The 1%, even the top 70% of citizens do not need any caring for. And no government can care for 100% of the population. 47% is being very generous! Priority should be given to the bottom 30% or even 10% at the bottom, and with no care at all for the top 70% especially less so the top 1%, simply because the top 70% (far more so the 1%) won’t feel any surfeit without care either, nor would they want any ‘condescending’ and ‘indebting’ care which any common sense person or ethical person would not want to partake of to not be indebted to the state to not make the state feel entitled to RULE them as citizens rather than administer.

This is also why term limits need to be introduced at ALL government careerist politician posts and seats, simply to prevent the term limitless to take the role of Santa Claus from monies which actually come from the taxpayers who are already doing economic national service as opposed to those sequestering wealth from circulating in the system or worse still sending that money to overseas microstate tax havens like Singapore and Lietchtenstein or any banana republic or oil republic nations!

ARTICLE 3

The Concept of Civilization – September 27, 2012 | By Xavier Bartlett – Waking Times

We all have an idea about the meaning of the word “civilization”: a concept that we use to relate to a complex, advanced society like the current one on Earth, but also ancient cultures which flourished centuries ago, leaving us with a splendid legacy. If we focus primarily on the social sciences, the term civilization is used to indicate a high state of progress – a certain level of social, cultural, political, economic and technological evolution that differentiates us from early cultures as well as current primitive communities that stay more or less isolated from what we call the modern world. Nevertheless, we must take into account that the word civilization can be also used in a broader sense: to denote the set of ideas, knowledge, values, institutions and achievements of a society at a certain time.

The idea that civilization equates to the summit of human development is long established in our history and relates directly to the rise of cities and states. However, with the triumph of evolutionism as a scientific theory, this definition was cemented; evolutionism not only impacted the natural sciences, but also greatly affected the social sciences such as history, archeology and anthropology. Thus, the most remote human past began to be explained not in religious or mythical terms, but under a scientific pattern: from the origin of man until the outbreak of civilization which took place more than 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Archaeological record demonstrates that early humans practiced nomadism for many thousands of years and had a simple —though not easy— life as hunter-gatherers. However, at the end of the last Ice Age (circa 10,000 BC) a radical change occurred and the human population entered a stage of progressive settlement that altered their strategy for survival: in addition to hunting and gathering, men began to domesticate plants and animals, thus becoming farmers and shepherds. Archeologist Gordon V. Childe called this process the “Neolithic Revolution”. And, between 4000 and 3000 BC, after a few millennia of Neolithic communities which had been developing in several areas of the world, the first known civilizations appeared, first in Mesopotamia and soon after in Egypt. Some centuries later, civilization emerged strongly in other parts of the world: the Indus Valley, China and finally the New World.

This new breakthrough, the so called “Urban Revolution”, was characterized by several milestones:

Population was divided into small rural villages and large settlements which eventually became cities.
A centralized religious-political power grew in the cities, achieving control over vast areas and thus creating the first state structures. Administrative apparatus and legal doctrines were created as a support for these structures.
The surplus of resources promoted growth and economic exchange, leading to the development of trade.
Society was stratified in several levels; there was a progressive specialization of work, especially in the urban environment.
Systems of writing appeared as a means of recording and managing information (a factor that eventually led to the creation of predominant historical cultures).
There was significant progress in science and technique in general, particularly in terms of practical application. An important material culture was developed in various arts and industries.

This process charts mankind’s drastic change from primitive existence into a complex world of increasing material welfare: man now controlled and exploited his surroundings, transforming them into a somewhat artificial environment.

There is no doubt that every new civilization established itself by building on the legacy of its predecessors and raising itself to new heights. Mesopotamia and Egypt were unrivalled in their own times, but in the fifth century BC Classical Greece arose and brought with it democracy, art, philosophy and science. Athens, and later Rome, spread civilization throughout the Mediterranean Sea, forever changing the face of Europe. And finally, this classical legacy built the foundations of the modern Western civilization, initially fostered in Europe and later carried further by America. This is the civilization we have now, which reaches all corners of the globe; though there are still countless different cultures with their own customs and values, the Western civilization has inarguably permeated and altered even the furthest of these.

This historical review may lead us to conclude that civilization is the logical progression of mankind from a state of mere subsistence to a complex culture in which scientific and technological progressions enable a much easier standard of living. However, we should question whether we should really consider progress and civilization to be synonymous. There is no doubt that evolutionary ideology enhanced the idea that man progresses through history and therefore some societies are superior to others simply because they are civilized. Nineteenth century anthropology proposed a simple classification of human cultures: savagery (hunter-gatherers), barbarism (farmers and shepherds) and civilization (the man of the urban environment). Similarly, archeology created a system of ages based on technology and certain material achievements. These categorizations would only allow us to conclude that the older a society is, the more primitive, and the more primitive, the more undesirable. Cultural evolutionism defended the notion that man moves naturally to a higher stage, and this is the desirable goal for all human beings; civilization represents progress, and the higher degree of civilization, the higher degree of progress for everyone. However, we must question this presumption and ask whether the evolutionary paradigm, first developed in the West during a period of marked eurocentrism, is compromised when applied to the history of civilizations.

History demonstrates that societies who considered themselves to be “civilized” did not hesitate to impose their own custom and value systems on those “wild” people and societies that they considered less evolved. Though this behavior is perhaps most relatable to European colonialism, it is evident in very different contexts, throughout history and all over the world. For example, the admired Aztec civilization is also renowned for its heavy handed imperialism and for the mass human sacrifices which horrified the Spanish conquistadors; and yet, it is documented that when the Aztecs became the conquered, they too were subjected to abuse, genocide and slavery by the so called “civilized” Spanish. Therefore, it could be said that cultural evolutionism is just a qualification “in scientific terms” of this long-established imperialist attitude. Global imperialism was justified in this way with the belief that the spread of “civilization” meant progress for all, even though the means was often marked by extreme abuses to those this “progress” was imposed upon. Indeed, civilization has not been an easy ride, because in most cases it has involved a political-economic conquest – often by force of arms – which has radically changed lifestyles and created new problems to overlay supposed existing problems.

The echo of this civilized aggression is still heard today in the cry of resistance of many indigenous communities to their cultural invaders all over the world. Instead of seeing the “benefits” of civilization, these people see only the loss of their own beliefs and traditions, and as seems common to all, the loss of their intimate bond with Earth and nature. However, it is important not to idealize a certain myth of the noble savage nor condemn the wonders which civilization has brought: the works of Virgil, the Taj Mahal, Rembrandt’s pictures or Puccini’s operas. And yet, in spite of recognizing many positive or desirable outcomes of civilization, it is impossible not to feel some uneasiness, from a historical perspective, at its great contradictions: the wars, genocide, intolerance, poverty, corruption, destruction and persecution which have resulted in its name.

If we concede that man progresses, how can we equate this with the 20th century’s “civilized” world which has suffered two brutal world wars with millions of victims? Are Hiroshima and Nagasaki symbols of civilization? How could an advanced and “civilized” nation such as modern Germany could fall into the moral barbarism of Nazism? Is the global pollution and irrational use of natural resources civilized behavior? Can the complex international financial system be the solution to the crisis created by itself? And why is this world civilization, with many international organizations, incapable of ending the famine and poverty in so many countries? In short, how can we talk about civilization if, for so many, the human condition has not substantially improved since the time of the Pharaohs? The accumulation of knowledge and material achievements for the privileged minority cannot justify an apparent lack of spiritual progress and human empathy. A voice that resonates inside us tells us that this cannot be civilization.

Now we’re getting to the heart of the question. In order to discover a new vision of the concept of civilization we must leave our Western rational mind and find another approach to study human existence. The writer and Egyptologist John Anthony West has a radically different definition of civilization:

“By civilisation I mean a society organised upon the conviction that mankind is on earth for a purpose. In a civilisation, men are concerned with the quality of the innerlife rather than with the conditions of day to day existence.” (West, J.A. Serpent in the Sky. p. 6)

Indeed, West presents a key point: the true meaning of human existence goes beyond the material world that surrounds us, it begins within the boundaries of our own skin. Neither science nor history have been able to provide real answers to philosophy’s great questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? What happens when we die? From the evolutionist point of view, there is no order or defined purpose, only chance. And chance determines what we perceive in the universe through our five senses. Man is just another animal, a physical being that shares a high percentage of DNA with chimps. But it is our differences from animals, those intellectual and rational attributes that make us human, that may lead us to question the idea of consciousness. We cannot deny that man needs food and shelter as other living beings, but he also asks questions and seeks answers about his own existence.

In this civilized world of immediate satisfaction, we think that having a powerful car, a new cell phone or a 3D TV means our lifestyle is far superior to that of indigenous people living in the deep jungle. It is true, we have more possessions, but does this equate to more happiness? Beyond this material wealth, humans still live and die as they did two, three or five thousand years ago. Civilization, as a frame of human existence in the past 5,000 years, has not only failed to connect us to our inner being, but is still unable to erase all of the problems our species faces.

In fact, the development of civilization has offered us several political-economic systems (including revolutions) which have tried to improve human existence, but they have not been successful. Perhaps this is because they have not reached the heart of the matter: man must first be transformed inside in order to change the world around him. Again and again we have seen philosophers and politicians make the same mistake when seeking to create a utopia. Thus, socialist ideology, which should have released humanity from the evils of western civilization, became a monster that forced men and women to live a materialistic and oppressive existence. Communism in the USSR demonstrates this clearly: thisworkers’ paradise was a totalitarian state that created its own imperialist policy all around the globe and was involved in several major wars from 1917 to 1991. At the end, the freedom of its people was hugely limited; they suffered very poor living conditions and terrible periods of political repression.

So, we see that civilization, in many forms throughout history, has completely failed to eliminate the selfishness and apparent need for confrontation that are at root of so many of humanity’s problems. Moreover, the arrival of capitalism in the recent centuries has only enhanced these negative attributes to land us in our current climate of consumerism and free economy where, while millions suffer famine around the world, huge quantities of food are destroyed in “civilized” countries in order to control the prices in the stock market. If we look at it like this, it is clear that somewhere along the line the evolution of civilization has gone very wrong; it hasn’t been able to improve the happiness of humanity at large, and it has not been able to provide a decent standard of living for all, instead it has just greatened the distance between rich and poor and increased the depths of human selfishness.

On the other hand, if we consider civilization as a set of values, knowledge, beliefs or products of a society, it is clear that the present world is really very complex and sometimes incomprehensible to the average citizen who has no idea of the final destination of human development. The modern civilized world looks like an astounding technological façade with no values or spirit behind it, except the materialist motivations. In this context, a growing sense of apathy and bewilderment seizes modern society. We cannot understand why one day we are fortunate and the next we have nothing, while many people grow up having nothing at all, not even hope. The multiple forms of corruption only increase this feeling of astonishment and indignation.

Now that we have all seen this scenario, perhaps it’s time to raise fearlessly a new vision, one where we have the right to judge and reject the “civilized world” for directly undermining the moral essence of man. And yet, the lack of obvious alternative to civilization impedes this change: people can only foresee a return to barbarism if we cast it off. But what could be worse than the barbarisms that we see in our world today? Are we blind to the things that are happening around us as long as we live a comfortable life? Isn’t this just more of the same selfishness and individualism?

The transformation of civilization it’s not about any kind of revolution, but about changing our focus from matter to spirit. Thus, in order to live in harmony with everyone and with our environment, in the mythical realm of the so-called “Golden Age”, we must transform our conscience. The first step in this global shift should be a personal commitment in our public and private behavior to live in alignment with love, dignity, solidarity, decency, honesty, and sincerity. Only then will humanity be on the right path, in a world that will not perhaps require large cities or flashy gadgets, but will give harmony to human communities and spiritual meaning to our lives.

This article was originally featured at GrahamHancock.com forum, an inspiring resource and conversation depot.

Leave the ‘private behaviour to live in alignment with . . . ‘ zinger out of this article and the article would be near perfect. Common sense is that . . . love, dignity, solidarity, decency, honesty, and sincerity . . . vary from private AND consensual communities to others living their own . . . love, dignity, solidarity, decency, honesty, and sincerity . . . standard. If a bunch of people like BDSM or LGBT and cannibalism or limb hacking (Hudud Syariah Islam), perhaps overloud blaring of loudspeaker prayers as well, or any combination of the above (a gay Muslim? A cannibal Nudist?) AND also voluntarily and consciously assent to their *own version* of ‘mainstream love, dignity, solidarity, decency, honesty, and sincerity . . . ‘lifestyle in body mind and spirit and want their own districts or even cities (some nudist colonies already exist), as a civilised society, those of the ‘ ‘mainstream love, dignity, solidarity, decency, honesty, and sincerity . . . ‘lifestyle in body mind and spirit,’ AS PER civilisation and Voltarian mindsets, leave these people alone to their own preference and allow them spaces too.

Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is the most senior official and negotiator in the UN climate change treaty system, and comes from a family dynasty steeped in the arts of politics and diplomacy.

Her father, Jose Figueres Ferrer, served three terms as president of the Central American nation of Costa Rica.

Her mother, Karen Olsen Beck, served as Costa Rica’s ambassador to Israel and was later elected a member of her country’s legislative assembly.

Her older brother, Jose Figueres Olsen, is also a past president of Costa Rica and her younger brother, Mariano Figueres Olsen, is currently active in politics.
NM Christian Figueres

The 55-year-old mother of two daughters is married to German-born Konrad von Ritter, a former head of the World Bank’s sustainable development unit.

She speaks Spanish, English and German, and is now based permanently in Bonn, Germany.

Figueres, who will play a key role in the COP17 negotiations in Durban, has worked as a private-sector consultant on carbon trading and has more than a decade of experience in previous climate talks as a member of the Costa Rican climate change negotiating team.

She grew up in Costa Rica in a farming community founded by her father and learned German at the Humboldt Schule.

Figueres later studied in England and the United States, graduating with a degree in anthropology from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in social anthropology from the London School of Economics.

She began her public service career in 1982 as a minister counsellor at the embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn, where she was responsible for negotiating the terms of technical assistance and development finance.

Returning to Costa Rica in 1987, she was appointed director of international co-operation in the Ministry of Planning and helped to negotiate financial and technical agreements with eight European countries.

A year later she became chief of staff to the minister of agriculture, before moving to Washington with her husband, who worked at the World Bank. She re-entered professional life in the mid-1990s, founding the Centre for Sustainable Development of the Americas, a think-tank promoting the participation of Latin American countries in the UN climate change treaty system.

She also helped to prepare several greenhouse gas reduction projects in the energy and industry sectors, and from 2007 to 2009 represented Latin America as vice-president of the Bureau of the UN Climate Convention.

She was also closely involved in the design and promotion of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the carbon-trading offshoot scheme of the Kyoto Protocol, which allows developed nations to “offset” their greenhouse gas emissions in developing nations.

She has served as a member of the CDM executive board, advised several private-sector carbon-trading companies such as C Quest Capital, and was also a board member of Winrock International, which oversees the voluntary American Carbon Registry.

She was appointed to her current position as executive secretary of the UNFCCC early last year, taking over from Yvo de Boer of the Netherlands.

What is her role in the COP17 negotiations?

In a recent press briefing, Figueres described her main function as a facilitator “helping to kick the ball forward” during the Durban talks and to provide support to the host nation in reaching further agreements.

What are some of her expectations for the Durban talks?

“Climate change is possibly the largest challenge humanity has ever faced, but every conference of the parties is only a step in the right direction.

“We have to chart a path as we move forward. This journey has not been mapped before and every country will have to walk down that path together.

“What is needed is scale and speed.

“What we have done until now has been insufficient. It has been slow. Governments know this, but it is not only the responsibility of governments to move forward.

“The private sector needs to step up and provide the inputs they can. So must civil society.”

“Governments are the steering wheel on climate change, but in many instances the private sector is the motor which drives towards the targets.”

What is her own country doing to tackle climate change?

“Costa Rica produces only 0.001 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Yet we have taken on the target of carbon neutrality by 2021. We have taken the decision that it is every country’s moral responsibility to reduce carbon as much as possible.

“But we are not the only one. There is a growing sense that everyone can contribute to the solution, but in a differentiated manner.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Ever so obtusely nepotistic this personae appears to be. Perhaps she may be doing good work and her father was a truly utopian man on the ‘remove military’ issue, but Christiana should know that if this very post she is working at is due in any part to association, the right thing to do would be to leave after 2 terms equivalent VOLUNTARILY. UN salaries are princely sums and in as early as 2 terms anyone holding such posts could retire AND RIGHTLY SHOULD as there are many who could do with the experience with the opportunity to participate (we do not need UN Oligarchs holding posts like careerists, while so many equally qualified need both the job and the money for 2 terms). The ethical and moral thing should be clear for one with such a high minded policy background as Christiana’s.

This is as much everyone else’s world as Christiana’s to administer via the UN (and those plush jobs with perhaps overfat salaries) and by this very egalitarian and utopian thinking that would remove an entire military, 1 term per top level national academic/bureaucrat from aan appropriate portfolio, should be well and fine enough for anyone. The last thing we need is ‘UN Personalities’ preventing everyone else from having that job, more so being progeny of one of the world’s presidents even ministers. There is nothing worse than this form of ‘indirect nepotism’. Let there be a succcession of 1 term administrators at 1 four year term each and in 40 years and only 10 people would have had an opportunity to participate at the UN. Is this democratic? A BUREAUCRAT JUNTA forms at the UN, and Christiana cannot want to be representative of a Junta of any sort now can she? Christiana what say you?

Every citizen can militarise without a single cent spent with 2nd Amendment Rights and a healthy gun culture. Who needs to pay for a military? As for drills and discipline, that can be a weekend or evening hobby thing. But to take funds from taxpayers without their assent and via force of a mob minded politicians? Undemocratic! Save the cash and liberalise and dignify fellow citizens by allowing them the right to own weapons or opt outs and abstention from what would be forced conscriptions (bully and junta culture if anything), also only freemen carried weapons, the rest who did not were SERFS.

ARTICLE 5

Chinese Netizen Speaks Out: “China Spending As Much on Calming Civil Unrest As US on War Effort” – Sep 28, 2012 by Philip Kendall

Even putting current tensions between the country and Japan aside for the moment, China has seen a great deal of civil unrest in recent months. With citizens losing faith in their government, and the gap between the poor and the wealthy seemingly growing ever larger, it is little wonder that protests and riots are occurring more and more frequently.

At the end of June, pictures emerged of clashes between residents and armed police in the Canton region. It later become clear that the riot occurred following little more than a scuffle between two boys from neighbouring towns that got out of hand. Angry that men from the first boy’s town had entered into the argument, adults from the second boy’s town also became involved, and the spat quickly grew out of hand with thousands of locals eventually becoming involved in the fray.

During last week’s incredibly heated anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, images came forth of Chinese attacking and looting stores that bore no relation to Japan whatsoever. Of course, there’s a lot that can be said about the effects of mob mentality, and it’s easy for people, especially those who feel that they have been dealt an injustice by those in power and the wealthy, to become swept up in the mayhem.

As some of you may recall, in perhaps one of the country’s lowest moments, England saw three days of riots and mob violence in several major cities during the summer of 2011. What initially began as a protest in response to the shooting by police of a young man in London soon became violent, and within a matter of hours the streets were lost to thugs and petty criminals who mugged, robbed and smashed whatever and whomever they met.

When asked what their motivation was for such acts of senseless violence, many, particularly from poorer areas of the country, attempted to justify their behaviour by arguing that they received little-to-no support from the authorities, and that the areas in which they lived were run-down and often entirely forgotten by the government. Few would agree that reasons such as these justify their behaviour, but civil unrest, it would seem, is not an issue that China alone is facing.

China, however, is notoriously protective of its information, making it difficult for those of us outside the country to grasp the state or scale of the situation behind the great firewall beyond drip-fed images of protests and clashes.

So on September 19, when a Chinese internet user posted a message revealing the severity of the situation and posting some shocking figures relating to the Chinese government’s recent expenditure, it understandably made headlines.

“At this moment in time, the Chinese government is thought to be spending approximately eighty billion US dollars per year on issues of civil unrest and calming outbursts of this kind.”

The figure, although obviously huge, is difficult to visualise until the unnamed internet user presents us with an utterly mind-boggling comparison:

“If this level of spending continues, in five years China will have spent as much on dealing with its own civil unrest and local security as the US on its recent war budget.”

Shocking isn’t the word…

‘Love you long time . . . ‘ fading possibility if USA burns out in the Middle East . . . Don’t blame China then! Twas the Muslet!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

8 billion USD? Thats 24 billion Yuan. So that means the PRC from a propaganda/citizen appeasement fund alone, could make 24,000 millionaires yearly by direct distribution or make 48,000 ‘retire capable’ families yearly for an average of 100 to 200 thousand people pulled out of poverty. In 10 years 2 million people would be brought out of poverty directly into wealth or up to 10 million into the lower middle class. China will reach America’s poor suburb standards in 100 years at the current wealth growth rate IF there are no middlemen in the wealth distribution, massive increases in population, or wastage in propaganda expenditure (i.e. printing leaflets, holding meaningless feel good meetings etc..

Incidentally, USA spends 90 billion for education alone. So that means the USA could make 240,000 millionaires yearly by direct distribution instead of putting funds through the middle man bureaucracy – never mind that there are no degree holders in USA – or make 480,000 ‘retire capable’ families yearly for an average of 1 to 2 million people pulled out of poverty. In 10 years 20 million people would be brought out of poverty directly into wealth or up to 100 million into the lower middle class. USA will reach be poor sub-urb standards in 100 years at the current wealth growth rate IF there are no middlemen in the wealth distribution, massive increases in population, or wastage in propaganda expenditure (i.e. printing leaflets, holding meaningless feel good meetings etc.. or wars.

USA is already secure, but military adventurism and labour costs could be still destroy jobs. Suggest that MEDICINE be propagated as a free course so that healthcare will become virtually free and at very least removing compound interest for housing loans with options to complete payments over next generation or instead of foreclosures, having them be required to offer rooms to the civil servants as a form of national service that offsets or cancels debt at in liewu of payment. So think before foreclosing and displace and destroy communities. Thats just a home an education which should not have middleman parasites.

Would one prefer to be a degree holder or a millionaire? Would a citizen prefer ththat the Education-Financiar-Srudent-Debt Complex control society or that there be millionaires of every citizen? The plutocracy has abuses all those who are not millionaires, can only abuse degree holders who are not millionaires but loaded with debt – better a millionaire than a degree holder at compound interest and debt slavery in finaly, at the mercy of employers! The US government can dignify ALL citizens with the nation’s wealth not betray citizens to a a handful of ’employers’ or a handful of Univeersities which churn out degree holders with debt into a society woth no jobs, might as well liquidate the Education-Financiar-Student-Debt Complex and enrich the citizens directly by distribution of land and monies intended for ‘education’.

TOKYO- The shaky global economy needs Japan and China to be fully engaged, the head of the IMF said, warning the world could not afford for the two countries to be distracted by their bitter territorial row.

Speaking to Japanese media ahead of the annual IMF meeting in Tokyo next week, Christine Lagarde said the two economic powerhouses needed to show a bit of neighbourly tolerance for the good of the whole world.

“Both China and Japan are key economic drivers that do not want to be distracted by territorial division,” Kyodo News agency quoted Lagarde as telling reporters in Washington, in an interview published on Wednesday.

“The current status of the economy and the global economy needs both Japan and China fully engaged,” she said.

China and Japan, the world’s second and third largest economies, are at loggerheads over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Tokyo administers the chain under the name Senkakus, but they are claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyus.

Chinese government ships regularly venture into waters around the islands, routinely ignoring orders to leave by Japanese coastguard vessels.

Increasingly vitriolic diplomatic exchanges, including at the United Nations in New York last week, and mass anti-Japanese protests in several Chinese cities have further unsettled the pair’s already fractious relationship.

Japanese firms operating in China were forced to shutter or scale back their operations when mobs attacked factories and shops. Some companies also complained of tightened customs inspections and difficulties obtaining visas for their foreign staff.

Lagarde said neighbouring countries had to display “a certain degree of tolerance” if they were to rub along effectively.

The IMF managing director was speaking ahead of her trip to Japan next week when Tokyo hosts meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, in what will be the world’s largest single gathering of finance officials, bankers and non-government organisations.

Dow Jones Newswires reported late Tuesday several big Chinese banks had cancelled their participation in events connected to the meetings, in what it said was a sign of the bilateral row leaching into the broader, economic realm.

Most of the banks have not given a reason for their last-minute pull-outs but one unnamed person was explicit.

“Quite frankly, it’s Japan-China relations,” Dow Jones quoted an official at the Tokyo branch of the Agricultural Bank of China as saying.

The bank will withdraw from both IMF-related events and another financial industry conference planned in the western Japanese city of Osaka at the end of October.

The global economy has struggled to shrug off the effects of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, slowing growth in China and lingering concerns over the faltering US economic recovery.

Lagarde said European countries “have made huge progress” already on the road to recovery, but “more needs to be done”, according to Kyodo.

She said the “fiscal cliff” in the United States — the anticipated termination of income tax cuts and a massive spending reduction in early 2013 — also poses a threat to the global recovery.

“My dearest objective is that the countries participating in the IMF annual meeting in Tokyo would be prepared to come together, act together and try to go beyond the crisis to sustain the recovery,” she was quoted as saying.

– AFP

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Note that IMF can have a meaningless meeting without China in Osaka, or choose to relocate the meeting to South Korea or some other venue and PERHAPS have China join in. Fiat peddling by IMF btw is meaningless. So this will be a meaningless IMF meeting without any real underwritten nations in attendance. China will only even attend IMF because of the political presence issue. Going to IMF meetings will mean China is going to drop money, and with the unwritten insult by having the IMF meeting in Osaka (US military base there and in Japan – indirect asset to Japan’s illegal territorial claim), China loses out doubly, insulted and has to help IMF bail out nations? No point turning up. IMF caused this boycott by not considering the above.

The hard sell: Stepping into your bank for advice can mean coming up against an old-fashioned sales pitch like those that influenced Death Of A Salesman.

Going to a bank branch for help with an Isa, pension or other investment has traditionally been like plunging into a pool of piranhas.

You could almost sense the commission-hungry salesmen circling, teeth bared, ready to rip into your purse or wallet.

But from January all that should change. At least that’s the plan.
What is happening to financial advice?

New rules will outlaw commission on new sales of financial products and force all financial advisers, whether in a bank branch or independent, to charge separately for advice.

Some banks — including Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC — are so terrified of telling customers how much they have been charging they are pulling out of offering investment advice to ordinary High Street customers.

Advice will still be available in some banks, but only for wealthy individuals. Paying fees for advice will come as a shock to many who have believed advice is free because the charges have been so sneakily hidden.

But it shouldn’t cost you any more overall, so long as the financial industry behaves fairly —which remains to be seen.

More investing and pensions advice

High Street banks are set to change the way in which they offer financial advice

You should be better off

In fact, Money Mail has calculated that even after paying fees you could be hundreds or even thousands of pounds better off in the long run because your investment won’t be being drained by commission taken every year. On a £10,000 investment a bank or financial adviser may take as much as 8? per cent in initial commission, meaning only £9,200 of your money is actually invested.

Raising standards: Financial advisers will be better qualified

More insidious is so-called trail commission. This can be taken from your investment every year, knocking thousands of pounds off your profits in the long run.

From January 1, all financial advisers will have to charge fees instead. For instance, they may levy £350 for advice on an investment Isa or £600 on a pension.

The key thing is that because you are paying the fee, you can feel comfortable the advice is being made in your best interests, rather than to bring them a fat commission cheque.

You will be able to pay the fee by cash, cheque or debit card. Or you could choose to have the money taken from the amount you are investing.

If it is advice on an existing investment, you can even choose to have the money taken from that investment.

This may sound similar to commission, but there is a vital difference: the fee is agreed by you and your financial adviser rather than set by the company that is trying to sell the product.

You are the customer and you will be in control.

How commission eats investments

Commission swipes billions of pounds from our investments every year. Pension and investment companies set commission levels on everything they sell.

In a BBC Radio 4 programme called The Sins Of Commission, which was broadcast in May 2005, Aviva admitted to increasing the commission it paid when it wanted to sell more pensions. It is not alone.

Products such as investment trusts, which have low charges for investors but pay little or no commission, sell far less than investment bonds, which have much higher charges and pay large amounts of commission.

Successive scandals such as mis-selling of pensions, endowments and precipice bonds can all be traced back to commission.
What will financial advice cost?

That’s the million dollar question — and it’s the one banks and building societies planning to give advice in the High Street are as yet refusing to answer.

However, the website Unbiased.co.uk — an organisation that helps consumers find an independent financial adviser in their area — has surveyed its members.

They say you might be charged £350 on average to set up an investment Isa, £600 for advice on setting up a pension and £750 for building a strategy for investing a £25,000 lump sum.

Don’t be scared off by these figures. Remember you’ve been paying for advice all along. It’s just been picked from your pocket in the form of commission and other charges.

Let’s compare how the different charges might affect a £10,000 investment into a stock market Isa if it grew by 6? per cent a year before commission and charges were taken out. Under the current regime, you might typically make £5,219 profit after ten years or £13,645 profit after 20 years.

Under the new regime, without commission you might make £6,288 profit after ten years and £16,532 after 20 years. So you could be almost £3,000 better off after 20 years just because you paid a £350 fee upfront rather than let the adviser take commission.

This, of course, assumes the investment management companies that sell most investment Isas play fair and cut their annual charges to reflect the fact they no longer pass on commission to advisers.

Even if the adviser charged £2 a month for holding your fund you could still be more than £2,000 better off after 20 years.

You could even choose to have the initial advice fee of £350 taken from your investment and just invest £9,650. This would still leave you £500 better off after ten years and £1,600 better off over 20 years because the annual commission would not be taken from your savings.

The key thing with fees is to agree how much you will pay and how you will pay it. You may pay hourly, for a single project, for an ongoing service or an annual review.

Also check up on any extras they may charge, such as travel expenses or postage. And if the fees are similar, there should be no barrier stopping you from choosing to go to an independent adviser rather than using a bank.

Simplifying: Fees for financial advice could become less confusing under the new changes

Traps that mean it isn’t curtains for hidden fees?

Well, no. Think of it as a zombie: walking dead but still preying on you. Commission of any kind will not be allowed on new investments that you buy following advice. It will also not be allowed on any top-ups you make to existing investments following advice.

But you can still be charged trail commission on any lump sum or regular payments that are agreed before December 31, 2012.

So if you are already making a £100-a-month payment to a pension and continue making this, the adviser will continue to receive commission on each new payment.

They’ll also still receive the annual trail commission — typically 0.5? per cent a year on an investment Isa.

So if you have £100,000 in investment Isas, you could still lose £500 a year to commission even if the adviser does nothing.

On some pensions, investment bonds and endowments commission can be far higher.

Some investors will have paid tens of thousands in trail commission without even knowing it.

And banks hope to exploit another loophole. If you top up an existing investment and don’t take advice before doing so, they can also charge commission on that extra money.

For instance, if you are paying £100 a month into a pension and you increase the payment to £150 a month without receiving more advice, the adviser can take commission on the whole lot.

This is crucial for bank customers, because those banks which are no longer giving advice will be able to take commission on top-ups you make to your pension, Isas and other investments. You may therefore do better to buy an entirely new investment rather than top up an existing one.
How advisers will be better qualified

In another radical move, regulators have insisted financial advisers must be better qualified and investors must be given a much clearer idea of the type of advice they are receiving.

This is part of a process known as the retail distribution review. The Financial Services Authority has insisted all advisers must undertake fresh training and exams which are the equivalent to the first year of a degree course. Until now, the basic exams have barely been more than GCSE standard.

The FSA had three key aims. These are to ensure investors:

Are offered a transparent and fair charging system for advice;
Are clear about the service they receive;
Receive advice from highly respected professionals.

There will also be basically four types of advice available from the new year.

These are:

An independent financial adviser who must look at the whole market and all types of investment. Currently, some ignore products such as investment trusts and exchange traded funds that have lower charges or don’t pay commission.
An adviser who is independent in specific areas. These will specialise in one or more types of advice such as pensions, investments or long term care. But within their specialism they will look at every type of product you could use. If you want help in an area outside their specialism they must send you elsewhere.
Restricted advisers who will only offer products from a limited number of companies. For instance, they may only offer investments from one insurer or from half a dozen unit trust companies.
Staff who only carry out the sale. This category is for do-it-yourself investing with no advice at all. However, there may be guides or newsletters giving you ideas for investments and explaining strategy.

When seeking advice you should check what category of adviser you are dealing with and what qualification and experience they have, especially if you need specialist help on issues such as your pension or long-term care.

To find a qualified adviser near you, go to thisismoney.co.uk/adviser.
What do banks and advisers say?

As you can imagine, there has been a lot of whingeing because banning commission will remove a secret and lucrative source of income. Karen Barrett, of Unbiased, takes a more optimistic line.

‘People have always paid for advice but thought it was free because the charges were disguised as commission,’ she says.

‘Now people can choose to pay a fee for a project such as sorting out an inheritance or for a one-off piece of advice such as setting up an Isa or they can pay an annual retainer.’

Surveys have suggested around 10? per cent of independent financial advisers may quit because they do not want to take the new exams or believe people will not pay for their advice.

Others may give up being fully independent and will instead specialise in certain areas such as pensions, general investment or long-term care planning. Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC have pulled out of offering advice to ordinary customers altogether.

RBS has announced 618 redundancies in its financial planning unit and HSBC cut 650 tied advisers.
Barclays had already closed its financial planning arm following the scandal exposed by Money Mail which saw risk-averse customers invested in high-risk investments — and resulted in a £7.7 million fine.

The banks’ exodus has led to concerns there will be an ‘advice gap’ with no one to guide the novice or small investor. But others, such as Nationwide, remain committed to providing advice in the High Street and may well plug at least part of the gap left by the big banks.

The comments below have not been moderated.

Its about time these hidden charges were exposed.. Afterall its only advice with no guarantees..

– steve , sheffield, 03/10/2012 13:36
Rating 2

Given that sellers of financial products have been operating for decades and generating a handsome income from the commission earned, but hidden and paid for by the end user what precisely is the effect of these changes? You now will pay an upfront fee, which can be deducted from the amount that you wish to invest, and the net amount can be invested achieving a better return as the fund will not be paying hidden commission charges to the salesman (sorry financial expert). If IFA are charging £150/hour then it is probably more expensive than getting your car serviced and if your unhappy knowing that you are paying this rate (instead of the ignorance of paying a hidden commission) then you could always do your own research and come up with a sensible investment strategy and keep your fingers crossed as you would with the advice from any IFA!

– Paul F , Leeds, United Kingdom, 03/10/2012 13:32
Rating 3

Seeing a Financial Advisor will become like visiting a Solicitor – expensive, but the advice is generally worth it’s weight. A tough decision with 3 outcomes: 1. the rich get better advice (ie richer); 2 the poor get no advice and will be limited to bank-based cash despoits (ie poorer); and 3. misselling should be avoided (though misselling only becomes a problem when the market falls and everyone sees whose been swimming naked)…

– Mark Howes , Brighton, United Kingdom, 03/10/2012 11:42
Rating 3

I didn’t know they sold Duff products I thought that was something Homer Simpson drunk.

It has never been the salespeople it has always been the products themselves that are badly designed and administered. This does nothing to address the real issue.

– john heppell , Norwich, 03/10/2012 07:36

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

8 percent is an extreme sum. Who are these Shylocks? Con men and confidence tricksters are what these so called ‘advisors’ are. Not a cent or a single drop of blood, much less this 8% pound of flesh. Even if one could afford the insurance or ‘advise fees’. Ridiculous capitalism/corporatism. Heres some advice for the ‘advisors’. Try making and selling real goods and services instead of expecting people to pay for regurgitation of capitalist rubbish from courses and classes that have no bearing or reality. Lets have REAL goods and services. Build real things. A bundle of firewood and some dressed meat for a barbecue has more value than ‘advice’ or scraps of paper.

Who says salesmen die because they cannot sell ‘advice’? Sell useful things and people will still buy. Bottles of milk, bread, flour, butter salt, cloth, small and useful tools, basic sundries perhaps, electronics, artwork, ceramics, furniture etc.. – but don’t expect a single cent for capitalist/red-tape claptrap of the ‘finance’ industry. 8%? Dream on, the bank barely give give interest to depositors more than 1% these days (Russia has 8% interest as of this posting BUT if WW3 breaks out and Russia decided to stop all transactions, say goodbye to your money . . . ).

Selling so-called ‘financial products’ based around non-existent ‘monetised debt’ (which caused the US banking crisis and massive homelessness from foreclosures) or fractionated trading of commodities and precious metals on non-existent REAL goods, while the idiot banking conman, dares takes 8% of principal? No advice is worth 8% of the whole transaction! Even housing agents demand only 1%, the ‘financial product advisor’ doesn’t even do any traveling or legwork like meeting lawyers etc.!

NO WAY. Perhaps 10% of the bank’s current interest rate could be tolerable which means a flat 1% at 10% interest rates for fixed deposit which are virtually impossible to find even as INFLATION is more than 10% most of the time, with GOLD the only thing keeping up with inflation. Theres no such thing as fiat money either. None with any intelligence will miss associating with these finance conmen. Vote properly meanwhile, the banking and finance industry are overgrown parasites, even education has become a parasite system (Student Debt Finaciar Complex), the legal system and enforcement (Prison Contractor-Supplier Crony Complex) yet another. Bad laws lead to bad society, leads to bad citizens.

Banks have failed and have been running at loss for decades WHILE paying gigantic millions level bonuses, to so-called CEOs and Executives (even at loss to the citizens, stockholders of bank stocks), and only are propped by taxmonies citizens stupidly GIVE the corrupted and colluding MPs or Governors in governments who never lower taxes or add VAT and GST on top of EXISTING taxes not to mention Road Tolls or other crony projects! Drop the greed minded conjob low class mentality (though high wealth) cheating bastards among citizens! Boycott ALL banking ‘products’ and the parasite ‘advisors’ who need to produce REAL GOODS or offer REAL SERVICES instead of helping the bank conning the people with ‘so-called ‘banking products’!

Here’s the truth of ‘human’ ‘reality’. There is only land and resources, manufacture and production of real goods, perhaps barter of livestock – and politics or religion at most discursiveness being proof and manner of obtaining stature – NOTHING ELSE – especially false ‘finance’ and false ‘banking’. Barter solves everything, the REAL GOODS and REAL LABOUR market, not a stack of paper that represents nothing, not even commodities pushed by liars and sellouts in suits and ties.

With these ‘financial products’ one may get fiat money (under no guarantee either . . . which on top of that is already destroying the finance system and civilisation), with which one can buy things with and enrich oneself with. But anyone who chooses the expedience of ‘destroying society’s real goods or real labour financial reality ‘a little’ by buying any financial plans at any return of whatever rate, are unethical criminals destroying financial stability which the Finance Ministry of the government in most capitalist countries actually dare allow!

ARTICLE 8

All covered up! Woman arrested for having sex in the back of a Dubai taxi arrives for court hearing in a hijab – by Leon Watson – PUBLISHED: 11:07 GMT, 3 October 2012 | UPDATED: 12:52 GMT, 3 October 2012

Rebecca Blake, 29, is facing a prison sentence after her alleged tryst
She appeared with Irish welder Conor McRedmond at Dubai Criminal Court

The British businesswoman accused of having drunken sex in the back of a Dubai taxi turned up to court today wearing a hijab.

Rebecca Blake, 29, from Dorking, Surrey, was sacked from her £100,000 a year job as a recruitment consultant following the scandal and is facing a prison sentence after her alleged tryst with Irish welder Conor McRedmond.

Both appeared at Dubai Criminal Court today.

Following her arrest, Miss Blake insisted she had only been in the taxi for five minutes before the driver reported her to police – but admitted ‘I’m no saint’ and that she’d drunk so much the whole incident is a ‘blur’.

Rebecca Blake, 29, is accused of having sex in the back of a Dubai taxi with Irish welder Conor McRedmond

She also described her five days of hell in Bur Dubai women’s holding prison, where she was bitten by cockroaches.

Miss Blake told The Sun how the day, on May 4, started at noon with a four-hour-long all-you-can-drink brunch at Dubai’s exclusive Rotana Hotel.

‘It’s all a blur’: £100k-per-year British woman accused of having sex in a Dubai taxi reveals she went on a 10 hour drinking marathon before arrest
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood MP sparks fury by asking female journalist if her questions would be ‘as hot as she is’

She told the newspaper: ‘There’s constant alcohol – your drink won’t even be half gone before you get given a new one. I was table hopping, drinking white wine and just generally having a great time.

‘I don’t know how much I had, they just kept filling up the glass. I like to party and I like to drink. I’m a single girl with a good job and I am no saint.

‘It had been a great day – I was dancing and drinking from 12 noon till gone 10 at night.

Minutes later they were spotted in a passionate embrace by the driver in his rear view mirror, according to police reports.

Rebecca Blake, 29, and Conor McRedmond were arrested after an all-day drinking binge

Incensed by their behaviour, the driver stopped and complained to police in a patrol car parked nearby.

When he returned with an officer, they allegedly saw Miss Blake having sex on the back seat of the cab with Mr McRedmond.

Miss Blake refused to discuss what went on in the taxi, but admitted the events are a blur.

She said: ‘We were only in the taxi for five minutes before the driver pulled over. I can’t speak about anything in the cab for legal reasons. But I didn’t know what was going on. It is all a blur and I don’t really remember how it all came about.’

The pair were held for five days and accused of having sex outside marriage and being drunk in a public place – both criminal offences in the strict Islamic state.

Miss Blake described her time behind bars as ‘hell’ and revealed she suffered a panic attack after waking up to find cockroach bites on her face.

She’s currently free on bond, but faces up to three years in jail if convicted – and is terrified of the prospect of going back to prison.

She said: ‘Looking back I literally went from having fun dancing in the sun to an underground dungeon hell in a matter of hours. I must have dozed off a little bit (in her cell) because when I woke up I had a cockroach bite on my face.

‘It was vile – the worst nightmare you could possibly imagine. I had a panic attack and thought, “s***, I am in prison.” I was literally terrified.

‘I am preparing myself for going back to prison and I really don’t know how to cope with it. I don’t know if I will. It could finish me if I have to go back inside that hell-hole.’

Mr McRedmond, who is thought to work for an engineering firm, also denies the charges.

Those convicted of having sex outside marriage face a sentence of between one month and three years under Dubai law.

Strict Islamic state: Those convicted of having sex outside marriage face a sentence of between one month and three years under Dubai law.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Spoilsport snob/fundo driver/society. Maybe the cabbies should have signs on the taxi that say if they allow or disallow sex in their taxi. Being drunk is a form of ‘temporary insanity’ though harmless actions like sex in a taxi should be overlooked, or issued with warnings especially in foreign countries. Punishment for repeat offenses could be justifiable, but even then not excessive.

The driver of this supercar would probably rather be ragging it around a racetrack or attracting admiring glances while cruising down some of London’s most glamorous streets.

But this fluorescent orange Ferrari won’t be going very far at all for the time being – although it still may demand some attention.

The £200,000 vehicle, which has a top speed of 208mph and can go from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds, is being used to highlight a major campaign by police to target uninsured motorists.

Seized: The £200,000 Ferrari FF is on display outside New Scotland Yard as part of a campaign to clamp down on uninsured drivers

The 28-year-old owner of the FF model has not yet claimed the car back after it was seized in South Kensington.

The car, which has been placed alongside an £18,000 Mercedes belonging to a disqualified driver, has the phrase ‘uninsured vehicle seized by police’ plastered on its windscreen.

The display comes on the 11th day of action in the campaign – dubbed Operation Cubo – which has so far seized a total of nearly 37,000 uninsured vehicles since it began in October last year.

By this afternoon, a total of 300 vehicles were seized and 30 arrests made for various offences including driving while disqualified, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of class A drugs.

Captured: The Ferrari has been placed next to a £18,000 Mercedes which belongs to a disqualified driver

Clampdown: The two cars are on display outside New Scotland Yard as part of Operation Cubo, a major campaign to target uninsured motorists

While the cars are on display outside New Scotland Yard, a number of seized vehicles will also be on show in prominent positions around London as part of the campaign.

For all to see: Seized vehicles will be on show in prominent positions around the capital while the supercars are displayed to passers-by

During the ten Operation Cubo days held so far, more than 750 people have been arrested for a variety of offences including rape, possession of illegal firearms, money laundering and drugs.

Firearms, other weapons and large quantities of cash and drugs have also been recovered.

Commander Stephen Watson, who is leading the operation, said: ‘Operation Cubo has achieved some outstanding results and we expect another large haul of vehicle seizures today, and more importantly a number of arrests – including arrests for some very serious offences.

‘We are targeting criminals by denying them the use of the roads so it’s much harder for them to commit crime.

‘The overwhelming majority of people who don’t insure their cars are also habitual criminals.

‘We’re also helping to make London’s roads safer as uninsured drivers are more likely to have collisions and less likely to have road-worthy vehicles.

‘By displaying seized vehicles across London, we are sending a strong message to people who choose to drive without insurance that we will seize and possibly sell or crush your vehicle.’

‘Nearly 37,000 vehicles have now been seized since we began our initiative and hundreds of criminals arrested.

‘Cubo uses highly visible, but effective tactics that capture criminals in the act and deter their offending, while reclaiming London’s roads for responsible and law-abiding drivers.’

Crime: During the ten Operation Cubo days held so far, more than 750 people have been arrested for a variety of offences.

Commentator Comments :

YOU CAN INSURE YOUR ‘CAR FOR ANY DRIVER’ Why the hell are people going on about this..?!?!?!!? – paulus…, staffordshire, 3/10/2012 14:10 Nonsense! Young drivers cannot get “any driver” cover nor can those who own high performance cars are 2 examples I can think of off the top of my head.

– Paul , Swansea, 03/10/2012 14:39
Rating (0)

Insurance companies invented small print, there are more exclusions than inclusions in a policy. An insurance company, when they have a claim against their insurance, will first look at ALL avenues to get out of that claim, if that isn’t possible, they might pay! Not something new, that’s how they have always operated and will continue to operate.

– Wild Bill , Thailand, 03/10/2012 14:29
Rating 2

There is nothing pleasurable about driving anymore now. The tax on fuel is a joke, if you are in certain stereotypes, like under 25, you are lawfully discriminated against by insurers, whether you are a safe and able driver or not. There are too many cars and not enough road and people rushing around, others driving at dangerously slow speeds and those that don’t have the skill or interest and shouldn’t have been given a licence. All you can do is watch out and try and protect yourself.

– DAN , Gateshead, 03/10/2012 14:25
Rating 1

I suspect another 2 million drive DELIBERATELY without insurance due to the escalating costs and the fines for being caught being less than the insurance!

– Dave , Oban, 03/10/2012 14:23
Rating 6

– paulus… , staffordshire, 03/10/2012 14:06 ——————————- You are spot on. ————– Also, people should always check their ‘personal injury’ coverage terms, because some shady insurance companies will have a clause that exempts them if the accident was your fault. ——————— Another nice little tip is to check and see if your insurance extends to rental cars. Often rental car companies try to sell you very expensive insurance policies, but your own personal insurance may cover you in rental cars as well, which means you do not need to pay for the rental companies insurance. ————————– It’s always nice to know what you are covered for before the issue comes up, and what you’re not covered for in case you want to change that.

YOU CAN INSURE YOUR ‘CAR FOR ANY DRIVER’ Why the hell are people going on about this..?!?!?!!?

– paulus… , staffordshire, 03/10/2012 14:10
Rating 4

I used to work in car insurance claims and a lot of people seem to think that comp cover allows them to drive any car. sheesh, read your policy.

– lara , pontypridd, United Kingdom, 03/10/2012 14:07
Rating 1

It never ceases to amaze me how little most people actually know about at insurance. Myths seem more prevalent than facts..! Firstly, insurance isn’t mainly covering your car, you’re asking the company to insure everyone else’s car, property and personal safety against what YOU might do to it. Comprehensive insurance also covers damage to your car in some circumstances. The ‘driving other cars’ extension has never been automatic and had absolutely nothing to do with whether you have a comprehensive policy or not. This is just an old wives tale. You can have this extension to drive other cars with or without comp insurance, and you can have comp insurance with or without the ‘driving other cars’ extension. It’s about time people started actually reading their policy and certificate to understand what they have bought rather than relying on the myths and old wives takes about car insurance. I do accept however that the language should be clearer in policy documents.

– paulus… , staffordshire, 03/10/2012 14:06
Rating 2

The ‘driving other cars’ extension has NEVER been automatic and has absolutely nothing to do with whether you have comprehensive insurance or not. This is about stupid people believing old wives tales about insurance rather than confirming the facts.

– paulus… , staffordshire, 03/10/2012 13:53
Rating 7

Used to be the case that this was automatic. Now its another money making scam by the insurance companies. – Bobk, Aldershot, 3/10/2012 7:17 It usually is automatic, on Comprehensive policies. It’s never been automatic on Third Party Fire & Theft. Lauren’s case here doesn’t look right though – she would never be insured TPFT on her mother’s Comp policy. She would normally be covered to drive her mum’s car with TPFT cover on her own Comprehensive insurance. Because of her age she may have been TPFT insured on her own car meaning she wouldn’t normally have Driving Other Cars automatically included. It’s not really insurance companies scamming anybody – it’s a nationwide lack of understanding which insurance companies need to do more to address (in my opinion).

– Alan , Bradford, 03/10/2012 13:53

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Again I say, GET YOUR MPS TO ABOLISH PENALTIES FOR LACK OF INSURANCE! Or include opt outs for insurance. Many careful drivers DO NOT need insurance, if accidents occur for the careless, the offending driver can be penalised, but the careful uninsured driver should not be penalised for not having insurance. Larger penalties applied after accidents are meaningful BUT to penalise for merely not having insurance is unreasonable. Who writes these abusive laws? Who refuses to amend these abusive laws? If lots of people somehow feel they have to pay an insurance company (most likely crony colluder/proxy), does that mean that all those who do not want to pay insurance are forced to pay as well under threat of fines and imprisonment? This is uncivilised and undemocratic.

As a Catholic who works in the trade association profession in the auto industry it was unsettling to hear President Obama claim that he saved the auto industry. President Obama closed over 2,200 auto dealerships, which caused the losses of decades old family-owned businesses and over 120,000 jobs they provided. The closures were allowed to happen under the false notion that auto dealerships were an expense on their auto maker. The President ignored the fact that auto dealers are not an expense to automakers. Auto makers own none of what you see at auto dealerships. Auto dealers own all their property; the cars and trucks, parts, buildings, land, signs, everything. The dealerships pay their employee’s salaries and millions of dollars in taxes to state and local governments. The manufacturer has nothing to do with any of these things.

Facts:

President Obama purposefully and unjustly took away 2,200 self-sufficient, family owned businesses under the false premise that they were an expense on their auto manufacturer. He deliberately put these people in debt with no way to recover. Auto dealers still cannot sell their closed properties.
President Obama’s decision to close dealerships cost 120,000 persons their jobs and livelihood.
The President’s action defrauded auto dealers of their property rights and their employees of their wages.

The President’s actions against auto dealers violated the Catholic social teaching principles of social justice and the common good by removing owners rights to their property and defrauding workers of their wages. His actions (he calls it “shared sacrifice”) were an example of collectivism, centralized planning and socialism. All of these ideas are rejected by America and all are rejected by Catholic teaching in regard to the commandment, “thou shall not steal.”

Many people have forgotten what damage President Obama did to the auto industry and the auto dealer and their employees. Please remind them.

Peter L. Hodges Sr.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Heres a Spiritual Theory on Vehicles/Machines/Electronic Devices and Anime :

Christians are ALL involved in abuse of the ‘Nature Spirits’ within mankind. A car dealer deals in sequestration and slavery of ‘machine spirits’ of which some may be bonded with LIVING organic being spirits. Obama is aware of the esoteric level of things here, Hodges is either ignorant or fronting for more Catholic abuse of non-human spirits that do not know the difference between humans and machines. Granted binding of organic souls to machines is a skill, but a skill unnatural and abusive of beings that can evolve and ‘grow up’ keeping them in a state of spiritual stagnancy, enslaved to the coarse matter, in this case CARS. By breaking these businesses Obama is FREEING spirits that will evolve and one day look back on mankind with a more forgiving eye. Those who disparage these actions, are not on the correct spiritual page like so many pedophile priests that Christianity hides in the same way machines bind the souls of chidren who are sexually abused.

I doubt this will get to be featured among thesii for Occult works, but here goes. ANY car company that uses an anime character’s name is intentionally doing that and in an unethical and morally/spiritually illegal manner. any anime company that does not challenge the use of that character’s name used in a car model is colluding to sequester the ‘fapper’s’ SPIRITUAL energy. There are physical laws protecting PHYSICAL property and now if SPIRITUAL LAWS are to be considered to protect INTANGIBLE SPIRITUAL ENERGY as well, the car companies and anime companies need to compensate ANY person who masturbated to any anime character which has NLP or name links. The so-called ‘fap-material’ is to steal souls from people who masturbate if anything, and that is why Christianity does not allow abortions or masturbation (preferably).

The anime character has a life in the ether the instance they are electronically depicted on television/internet (or scanned) and the ‘fapability’ is in fact the astral/ethereal form being formed/summoned for sexual gratification. This is also how relationships can and do break up because of the weaker mindeds’ obsessions with anime or less obviously, real porn stars who’s presence is increasingly blurred as technologically the difference between real and manufactured become indistinguishable and distinct.

So when buying a car, or fapping to anime, make sure the anime company in question has not colluded with a car company via naming similarity, that could steal your sexual pleasure. This is also why depiction of idols is forbidden in Islam and why hermitages or isolation cells are used by spiritualists. To protect the unwary or the weak minded as well as formulate spiritual theories such as this. That sexual energy is the energy of life and one ends up in the astral or ether – the more one faps, though if the spirit police (your ethical religious orders or religions) if sufficiently numerous AND ethical to ensure astral or ethereal energies lost are returned equitably as other beings die, the above issues can be ignored to an extent. This is also the attraction of castration of animals (neutered animals are cruelly tied to owners for the owner’s sexual pleasure in some cases – particularly vigorous sexual sessions do result in animal deaths), mass murder, torture and the desire of ‘demons’ and ‘succubi’ (real or ethereal) to cause the above as well as people whp have pets or deal with animals are ‘sexy’. They’re disgusting parasites off the neutered beasts for mere pleasure that do not have the capacity for! This is also why harems are important among the upper classes who can affo\rd the luxury, this is also why some children leave formerly close knit familes and never go back or avoid going back, as well as the basis of incest.

To avoid all of the above, live in a low density place (an acre per family is minimal, forget about high rises or even rabbit hutch terraces or ‘duplexes’ or high density bungalows) that do not have animals, and ‘fap out’ the animals or unwanted/unwilling persons somehow caught in your sexual field and make sure anime characters do not share names with any vehicle models or machines or even brand name perfumes etc.. Return to the weather system ‘Sylphy‘ . . . the word Sylph or any permutation is RESERVED as much as Undine or any other mythical beast or personality. ‘Apollo’ angers the ether for certain (guess why those astronauts had to die), so please make up a new name and avoid accidental NLPs in other languages if possible.

In a special four-minute comment that aired during this morning’s news broadcast on La Crosse, Wisconsin’s CBS affiliate WKBT, news anchor/reporter Jennifer Livingston responded to a viewer who wrote in to the station to chide Livingston for not providing “a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular,” by appearing on television despite being overweight.

The letter had already gone viral thanks to Livingston’s husband, 6 and 10 anchor Mike Thompson, who posted it on his Facebook page, calling it “infuriating” and “sick.”

“The truth is, I am overweight,” Livingston acknowledged. “You can call me fat – and yes, even obese on a doctor’s chart. But to the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don’t know that? That your cruel words are pointing out something that I don’t see?”

She continued:

You don’t know me. You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family, and you have admitted you don’t watch this show. You know nothing about me but what you see on the outside, and I am much more than a number on a scale.

Proving that she was most certainly “a suitable example for this community’s young people,” and “girls in particular,” Livingston concluded her necessary rant with an appeal to bullied children everywhere.

To all of the children out there who feel lost, who are struggling with your weight, with the color of your skin, your sexual preference, your disability, even the acne on your face, listen to me right now. Do not let your self-worth be defined by bullies. Learn from my experience – that the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Only frumps and uglies or aging set types, will be taken seriously for serious news. A 911 Twin towers would be almost farcical if done by a slim or bimbo type. Fluff news or at very most weather however, this news anchor is indeed too fat. Talk about above waist issues, bring on the fatties, the chunkier the balder the uglier the better. One cant concentrate on serious issues, looking at beautiful people, too busy admiring.

So here we have yet another case of showing us who is in control over our rights to food.

Some of you may remember when I posted a thread on a woman in the US who had the city actually rip out her edible plants only to leave her with nothing and a couple in Canada who were threatened with the same action, only they fought City Hall and won.

Now we have Toronto playing food cops and removing an entire Community garden with no chance even to harvest.

toronto.mediacoop.ca…

Amid a growing food crisis, this morning workers from the City of Toronto were ordered by City of Toronto Parks Director Richard Ubbens that all live plants and food be removed from the People’s Peas Garden in Queens Park. They were ordered to take the plants and food to the dump and lay sod overtop of this most beautiful free community food garden, without warning, without a chance to remove the rare heirloom plant species or harvest the food.

Growing for 5 Months and having hundreds of volunteers and only NOW it’s destroyed? And right before the harvest the day before. Pathetic.

The City actually let it flourish and planned the day down to the eve of harvest to send some sort of message…whatever the hell that is.

The garden was planted by Occupy Gardens and allies on May 1st, in defense of local and global food security. While the garden has been growing undisturbed for nearly 5 months, with the help of hundreds in the community, the city deliberately decided to have it removed upon the eve of the Autumn Jam: A Harvest Party and celebration of sharing, community and free local food, which is happening tomorrow from 12-6pm at the garden in Queens Park (northwest section).

And the reasoning behind it all:

The reason? The people did not have permission to grow free food on public land.

If that’s the case (which I see as absolutely ridiculous because it’s in almost every city) why let it grow for 5 Months and rip it out the day before harvest? Agenda in the making.
Community gardens are beautiful, beneficial and act as a neighborhood gathering place of sharing with friends. What does a City gain by doing something that makes people angry and upset? Depriving people of good, healthy food when many can’t afford it is nothing but a declaration of power. They have it and the citizens don’t.

This makes me angry…again. Our food supplies are under attack and we are being told in many forms that we are losing our rights to produce what we want to eat. From Monsanto trying to control every seed on the planet to a front yard garden and now a Community garden.

I don’t mind saying that this is getting scary and it won’t be long before people are standing guard over their gardens with guns at the ready. I never thought I’d see days like this.

I know some members will come along and state that they have no right to grow food on public land. BS. Those people ARE the public…hundreds of them in fact. They pay taxes and kept a plot of land beautiful for the rest of the public.

Peace

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The city of Toronto does not just belong to the Council workers. The city of Toronto belongs to ALL residents of Toronto. Vote for an MP who will amend the laws to disallow this sort of harvest destroying behaviour.

B35 Bridge to PinangDecember 4th parliamentary elections in Russia were marked by outside interference by US-based NGO’s. Nearly 50,000 Muscovites – most members of the Communist Party – protested the fraudulent results in Bolotnaya Square near the Kremlin.

Despite the National Endowment for Democracy/Freedom House-funded ruse, the Communist Party still picked up the most seats. These results, along with Putin’s sending of an aircraft carrier to Syria and Russia’s Ambassador being kicked out of Qatar, indicate a Russia moving in a leftward direction.

This makes the Illuminati banksters very nervous.

Last week Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov announced that he would run for President in 2012. Prokhorov owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team and is worth $18 billion. He is the 3rd richest man in Russia and the 32nd richest man in the world.

Prokhorov is likely a Mikail Khodorkovsky-protégé front-man for the international bankers. He will play the same role that Croat billionaire Milan Panic filled when he ran for President of Yugoslavia in 1992. Panic lost to Slobodan Milosevic, whose country was shortly thereafter torn asunder by the banksters. Milosevic was later poisoned in the Hague after he embarrassed prosecutors via his vigorous defense.

If Prokohorov loses, will the banksters resort to violence against the Russian state?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Illuminati has targeted resource-rich Russia.

Unholy Alliance

While the international banking syndicates had always dealt with the Soviet Union, access to its vast oil resources remained limited. Ronald Reagan entered the White House in 1980 determined to splinter the Soviet Union into little pieces and open the country’s oilfields to the Four Horsemen. His point man in doing so was CIA Director Bill Casey, whose Roman Catholic Knights of Malta connections were thoroughly exploited.

The Vatican’s secretive Opus Dei “saintly Mafia” was behind the ascent of Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to the Papacy. Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II and launched an Opus Dei/Vatican offensive to roll back Latin American liberation theology movements and East European communism. Fascism came naturally to Karol Wojtyla. During the 1940’s he was a chemical salesman for Nazi combine I. G. Farben. Wojtyla sold the Nazis the cyanide they used at their Auschwitz death camps. One of his best friends was Dr. Wolf Szmuness, mastermind of the 1978 Center for Disease Control Hepatitis B study in the US, through which the AIDS virus was introduced into the gay population. [722]

In 1982 Reagan met with Pope John Paul II. Prior to the meeting Reagan signed NSD-32, authorizing a wide range of economic, diplomatic and covert activities to “neutralize the USSR’s hold on Eastern Europe”. At the meeting the two agreed to launch a clandestine program to tear Eastern Europe away from the Soviets. Poland, the Pope’s country of origin, would be the key. Catholic priests, the AFL-CIO, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Vatican Bank and CIA would all be deployed.

The Vatican is the world’s largest owner of equities, using Swiss affiliate Banco di Roma per la Svizzera to conduct its more discretionary business. Italian fascist Benito Mussolini gave the Vatican generous tax exemptions which it still enjoys. Banco Ambrosiano’s P-2 leader Robert Calvi’s Grand Oriente Freemason’s supported reconciliation with the Vatican. Relations between the Vatican and the Freemasons were strained in the 11th century when the Greek Orthodox split from the Roman Catholics. Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaler of St. John factions emerged. The latter was the Catholic faction. They changed their name to the Knights of Malta, after the island where they found refuge after their Crusades defeat, with help from the Vatican. Malta is a nexus of CIA/MI6/Mossad intrigues.

In the 13th century Pope Clement V, backed by France’s King Philip, charged the Protestant Knights Templars with heresy, citing their penchant for drug running, arms peddling, gambling and prostitution rings. These activities are what made the Templars “filthy rich”. Pope Clement made an example of Templar leader Jaques de Molay, whom he burned at the stake on Friday the 13th. [723] The Templars took their loot and fled to Scotland to found Scottish Rite Freemasonry. They bankrolled the House of Windsor, which controls Britain and presides at the apex of Freemasonry around the world. Masonic Lodge members enroll their children in the de Molay Society, which is named in honor of the toasted Templar pirate.

Calvi’s attempt to reconcile protestant and Catholic secret societies was a success. He became paymaster to the Polish Solidarity movement, while Nixon Treasury Secretary David Kennedy’s dirty Continental Illinois Bank served as conduit for CIA funds sent by Bank of Cicero asset Bishop Paul Marcinkus to fund Solidarity. [724] The Vatican teamed up with Europe’s Black Nobility, the Bilderbergers and CIA to launch the top-secret JASON Society and armed South American dictators to quash liberation theology. In 1978 when Pope John Paul II took power, the Vatican issued a commemorative stamp featuring an Egyptian pyramid and the Roshaniya all-seeing eye. [725] The Vatican and the Illuminati Brotherhood were reunited.

Reagan’s meetings with Pope John Paul II were an affirmation of this powerful new alliance, which would now focus on bringing the Soviet Union to its knees. Even before Reagan met with the Pope the CIA had groomed an informant at the Polish Ministry of Defense- Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski. Kuklinski reported to the Vatican and helped organize the Polish Solidarity Movement, led by the wealthy Radziwill family who had funded JFK assassins via Permindex. Most Solidarity leaders were old-money aristocrats.

The precursor to Solidarity was the National Alliance of Solidarists, a Russian/Eastern European fascist hit squad funded by RD/Shell’s Sir Henry Deterding and German Vickers Arms Corporation President Sir Basil Zacharoff. Sir Auckland Geddes of Rio Tinto Zinc, which bankrolled Francisco Franco’s fascist coup in Spain, also contributed to the Solidarists. Geddes’ nephew- Ford Irvine Geddes- was chairman of the Inchcape’s Peninsular & Orient Navigation Company from 1971-1972. [726]

The Solidarist’s US headquarters was the Tolstoy Foundation, which is housed in the same building as Julius Klein Associates, which ran guns to the murderous Haganah and Stern Gang Zionist death squads who stole Palestinian lands to found Israel. Klein was an M16 Permindex insider who helped plan the JFK hit.

The Solidarists stepchild, the Solidarity Movement, was touted in the Western media as a great Polish liberating force. With boatloads of CIA help, Solidarity toppled the Communist government in Warsaw. Their straw man Lech Walesa became President of Poland. In 1995 Walesa was defeated by former Communist leader Aleksander Kwasniewski. Walesa was rewarded for his boot licking with a job at Pepsico.

CIA Director Casey demanded a constant focus on Eastern Europe at CIA. Casey met often with Philadelphia Roman Catholic Cardinal John Krol to discuss the Solidarity Movement. He utilized his Knights of Malta connections, leaning heavily on Brother Vernon Walters, whose spook resume read like a James Bond novel. Walter’s latest incarnation was Reagan Ambassador at Large to Vatican Secretary of State Agostino Cardinal Casaroli. [727] By 1991 Walters was US Ambassador to the UN, where he successfully beat the drums of war against Iraq. He was in Fiji that same year, just prior to the overthrow of that left-leaning government.

Other Knights of Malta members involved in the Eastern European destabilization effort were Reagan NSA and Robert Vesco lieutenant Richard Allen, Reagan NSA Judge William Clark, Reagan Ambassador to the Vatican William Wilson and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Other prominent Knights of Malta members include Prescott Bush, Nixon Treasury Secretary William Simon, Nixon coup-plotter Alexander Haig, contra supporter J. Peter Grace and Venezuelan Rockefeller lieutenant Gustavo Cisneros.

The Reagan team had a five-part strategy in its efforts to destroy the Soviet Union. First, it would pursue the JASON Society’s Star Wars concept in an attempt to engage the Soviets in a space-based arms race which they knew Moscow could not afford. Second, the CIA would launch covert operations in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary in attempts to overthrow those Soviet-allied governments. While Walesa emerged in Poland, poet Vaclev Havel became CIA white knight in Czechoslovakia. Like Walesa, Havel became unpopular and was soon tossed out of his puppet presidency.

A component of the CIA destabilization program was to buy weapons from these East European nations to arm CIA-sponsored rebels in Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Angola and Mozambique, using BCCI and later BNL as conduits. The US also wanted to get their hands on the high-tech Soviet arsenal. Poland secretly sold the US an array of advanced Soviet weaponry worth $200 million. Romania did the same. Both countries saw their foreign debts reduced significantly. [728]

The third component of the Reagan strategy was to make financial aid to the Warsaw Pact contingent on economic privatization. Fourth, the US would blanket East European and Soviet airwaves with pro-Western propaganda, using fronts like Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America. The CIA financed local newspapers and magazines.

The Company got help inside the Soviet Union from its Mossad buddies in an effort spearheaded by media mogul and Mossad paymaster Robert Maxwell. When Maxwell threatened to reveal a meeting between KGB head Vladimir Kryuchkov and Mossad brass aboard his private yacht at which a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev was discussed, Mossad ordered a hit on Maxwell. On November 4, 1991 as he sailed around the Canary Islands Maxwell was assassinated by Israeli commandos. The mass exodus of Russian Jews to Israeli-occupied settlements in Palestine was part of the secret deal between Mossad and Kryuchkov, who is still serving time in a Moscow prison for his treasonous role in the Gorbachev coup. [729]

But it was the fifth and final component of Reagan’s strategy that had the Four Horsemen salivating. Reagan’s spooks initiated an economic warfare campaign against the Soviet Union, which included a freeze on technology transfers, counterfeiting of the Russian ruble and the sponsoring of separatist Islamist groups in the Soviet Central Asian Caucasus. The jihadis who were instructed to target a key transcontinental natural gas pipeline which the Soviets were building. The Soviets had more natural gas than any country on earth and saw the completion of this pipeline as their cash cow for the 21st century. [730] Big Oil wanted to milk that cow.

It’s the Oil, Stupid

When the Soviet Union’s last President Mikhail Gorbachev announced his perestroika and glasnost campaigns to privatize his country’s economy, he was aiding the Illuminati in destroying his country. Was Gorbachev duped, an unwitting accomplice, a CIA deep-cover agent or a mind-controlled Operation Presidio Temple of Set victim? Whatever the case, he played a key role in dismantling the Soviet Union.

The Soviets controlled not only the vast resources of their own nation, but Third World resources in Soviet-allied Comecon nations. Part of perestroika was to cease Soviet aid to these developing nations to ease the growing Soviet debt burden which, like the US debt, accrued largely from decades of Cold War military spending. The two superpowers’ debt was held by the same international banks, which now used this debt lever to pick a winner and to open Russian and Third World resource pools to their corporate tentacles. [731]

When the Berlin Wall fell and Gorbachev was overthrown in favor of IMF crony Boris Yeltsin, the Four Horsemen rushed to Moscow to begin making oil deals. Oil and natural gas had always been the Soviet’s main export and it remained so for the new Russia. In 1991, the country earned $13 billion in hard currency from oil exports. In 1992 Yeltsin announced that Russia’s world leading 9.2 billion barrel/day oil sector would be privatized.

Sixty percent of Russia’s Siberian reserves had never been tapped. [732] In 1993 the World Bank announced a $610 billion loan to modernize Russia’s oil industry- by far the largest loan in the bank’s history. World Bank subsidiary International Finance Corporation bought stock in several Russian oil companies and made an additional loan to the Bronfman’s Conoco for its purchase of Siberian Polar Lights Company. [733]

The main vehicle for international banker control over Russian oil was Lukoil, initially 20%-owned by BP Amoco and Credit Suisse First Boston, where Clinton Yugoslav envoy and Dayton Peace Accords architect Richard Holbrooke worked. Bush Sr. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, who orchestrated the BNL cover-up, was now CS First Boston’s Chief Financial Officer. A handful of Zionist Russian oligarchs, collectively known as the Russian Mafia, owned the rest of Lukoil, which served as the Saudi ARAMCO of Russia for the Four Horsemen, a partner to Big Oil in projects throughout the country which involved truly staggering amounts of capital.

These included Sakhalin Islands projects known as Sakhalin I, a $15 billion Exxon Mobil venture; and Sakhalin II, a $10 billion deal led by Royal Dutch/Shell which included Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Marathon Oil as partners. Siberian developments were even larger. RD/Shell is a 24.5% partner in Uganskneftegasin, which controls a huge Siberian natural gas field. At Priobskoye, BP Amoco operates a $53 billion project. At Timan Pechora on the Arctic Ocean a consortium made up of Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, BP Amoco and Norsk Hydo runs a $48 billion venture.

In November 2001 Exxon Mobil announced plans to invest another $12 billion in an oil and gas project in the Russian Far East. RD/Shell announced a $8.5 billion investment in its Sakhalin Islands concessions. BP Amoco made similar proclamations. [734] In 1994 Lukoil pumped 416 million barrels of oil, making it fourth largest producer in the world after RD/Shell, Exxon Mobil and part-owner BP Amoco. Its fifteen billion barrels in crude reserves rank second in the world to Royal Dutch/ Shell. [735]

The Soviet Caucasus, with encouragement from Langley, soon split from Russia. The map of Central Asia was re-written as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Georgia all declared their independence. The pipeline Reagan ordered targeted carried Soviet natural gas east to the North Pacific port of Vladivostok and west to the Black Sea port of Novorrossiysk from the world’s richest known natural gas fields lying beneath and abutting the shoreline of the Caspian Sea, which lies in the heart of Caucasus.

The Four Horsemen coveted this resource more than any in the world. They wanted to build their own private pipelines once they got their hands on the Caspian Sea natural gas fields, which also contain an estimated 200 billion barrels of crude oil. Oil industry privatizations were quickly announced in the new Central Asian Republics which had, by virtue of their independence, taken control of the vast Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves. By 1991 Chevron was holding talks with Kazakhstan. [736]

The Central Asian Republics became the largest recipients of USAID aid, as well as ExIm Bank, OPIC and CCC loans. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan were especially favored. These countries control the shoreline of the Caspian Sea, along with Russia and Iran. In 1994 Kazakhstan received $311 million in US aid and another $85 million to help dismantle Soviet-era nuclear weapons. President Clinton met with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. They signed an array of agreements ranging from disarmament deals to space research cooperation. Kazakhstan, with an estimated 17.6 billion barrels of oil reserves, had been a strategic part of the Soviet nuclear weapons grid and was home to the Soviet space program.

The two leaders also signed an agreement providing investment protection for US multinationals. The Free Trade Institute and US Chamber of Commerce sent officials to train Kazakhs in the finer arts of global capitalism. The Four Horsemen moved in swiftly. Chevron Texaco laid claim to the biggest prize- the $20 billion Tenghiz oilfield- then grabbed another gusher at Korolev. Exxon Mobil signed a deal to develop an offshore concession in the Caspian. [737] Tengizchevroil is 45%-owned by Chevron Texaco and 25%-owned by Exxon Mobil. [738] President George W. Bush’s NSA and later Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, an expert on Central Asia, sat on the board at Chevron alongside George Schultz from 1989-1992. She even had an oil tanker named after her.

Across the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan was receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid. BP Amoco led a consortium of seven oil giants who spent an initial $8 billion to develop three concessions off the coast of the capital Baku- historic base camp of Big Oil in the region. [739] BP Amoco and Pennzoil- recently acquired by Royal Dutch/Shell- took control of the Azerbaijan Oil Company, whose board of directors included former Bush Sr. Secretary of State James Baker.

In 1991 Air America super spook Richard Secord showed up in Baku under the cover of MEGA Oil. [740] Secord & Company did military training, sold Israeli arms, passed “brown bags filled with cash” and shipped in over 2,000 Islamist fighters from Afghanistan with help from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Afghan heroin began flooding into Baku. Russian economist Alexandre Datskevitch said of 184 heroin labs that police discovered in Moscow in 1991, “Every one of them was run by Azeris, who use the proceeds to buy arms for Azerbaijan’s war against Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh”. [741]

A Turkish intelligence source claims that Exxon and Mobil were behind the 1993 coup against elected Armenian President Abulfaz Elchibey. Secord’s Islamists helped. Osama bin Laden set up an NGO in Baku as a base for attacking the Russians in Chechnya and Dagestan. A more pliant President Heidar Aliyev was installed. In 1996, at the behest of Amoco’s president, he was invited to the White House to meet President Clinton- whose NSA Sandy Berger held $90,000 worth of Amoco stock. [742]

Armenian separatists backed by the CIA took over the strategic Armenian regions of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhnichevan which border Turkey and Iran. When Turkish President Turgut Ozal mentioned intervention in Nakhnichevan to back the Azerbaijani seizure, Turkish Premier Suleyman Demirel quickly played down the statement from the key US ally. These two regions are critical to Big Oil plans to build a pipeline from the Caspian Sea across Turkey to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorrossiysk. The same route is utilized by Turkey’s Gray Wolves mafia in their Central Asia to Europe heroin endeavors. When Gray Wolf Mehmet Ali Agca tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, the CIA used its Gladio strategy, trying to pin it on Bulgaria’s Communist Lukashenko government.

Lukoil owns 26% of the Russian Black Sea port at Novorrossiysk. Its president Vayit Alekperov wanted to build the Caspian pipeline through Grozny in Chechnya, while the Four Horsemen preferred the route through Turkey. CIA support for Armenian separatists and Chechen Islamist rebels ensured chaos in Grozny. Alekperov finally agreed to the Turkish route.

In 2003 the Defense Department proposed a $3.8 million military training grant for Azerbaijan. Later they admitted it was to protect US access to oil. As author Michael Klare put it, “Slowly but surely, the US military is being converted into a global oil-protection service”. [743]

Turkmenistan, which borders the Caspian Sea on the southeast, is a virtual gas republic, containing massive deposits of natural gas. It also has vast reserves of oil, copper, coal, tungsten, zinc, uranium and gold. The biggest gas field is at Dauletabad in the southeast of the country, near the Afghan border. The Unocal-led Centgas set about building a pipeline which would connect the oil fields around Chardzhan to the Siberian oilfields further north. More crucial to Centgas was a gas pipeline from Dauletabad across Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. [744] Advisers to the project included Henry Kissinger. Unocal is now part of Chevron.

With the Four Horsemen firmly in charge of Caspian Sea reserves, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium was born. Chevron Texaco took a 15% stake with the other three Horsemen and Lukoil splitting the rest. Pipeline security was provided by the Israeli firm Magal Security Systems, which is connected to Mossad. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have especially cozy relations with Israel via Special Ambassador Yusef Maiman, who is president of the Israeli Mehrav Group. Mehrav is involved in a project in Turkey to divert water from the upper Tigres and Euphrates Rivers to the southeast part of Turkey and away from Iraq. [745] The Caspian pipeline was built by Bechtel in partnership with GE and Wilbros Group. The pipeline quietly began moving oil and gas in November 2001, just two months after 911.

Bechtel also built the oilfield infrastructure at Tengiz for Chevron Texaco. In 1995 Bechtel led a USAID-funded consortium to restructure the energy sectors of eleven Central and Eastern European nations in line with IMF mandates. Bechtel received a massive contract to upgrade Russia’s many ailing aluminum smelters in tandem with Pechiney. Lukoil contracted with New Jersey-based ABB Lummus Crest (formed when engineering giants Asea Braun Boveri and Lummis Crest merged) to build a $1.3 billion refinery at the Novorrossysk port and to do a $700 million upgrade on its refinery at Perm.

The Bush Jr. Administration now planned a series of additional Caspian Sea pipelines to compliment the Tenghiz-Black Sea route. A Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline was built by a Four Horsemen consortium led by BP Amoco. The law firm representing the BP-led consortium is James Baker’s family law firm- Baker Botts. The BP Amoco pipeline runs the length of the country of Georgia through its capital Tblisi.

In February 2002 the US announced plans to send 200 military advisers and attack helicopters to Georgia to “root our terrorism”. [746] The deployment was a smokescreen for pipeline protection. In September 2002 Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivaniov accused Georgia of harboring Chechen rebels. In October 2003 Georgian President Eduard Schevardnadze was forced to step down in a bloodless revolution. According to a December 11, 2003 article on the World Socialist Party website, CIA sponsored the coup.

In September 2004 hundreds of Russian school children were killed when Chechen separatists seized their school building. Russian President Vladimir Putin said of the incident, “Certain political circles in the West want to weaken Russia, just like the Romans wanted to weaken Carthage.” He accused “foreign intelligence services” of complicity in the attacks. His adviser Aslanbek Aslakhanov went further, stating on Russian Channel 2 News, “The men had their conversations not within Russia, but with other countries. They were led on a leash. Our self-styled friends have been working for several decades to dismember Russia… (they are the) puppeteers and are financing terror.” Russia’s KM News ran the headline, “School Seizure was Planned in Washington and London”. [747]

Lukoil epitomizes the corruption so rampant in Russia since the Soviet collapse. Bribery is the norm. Lukoil has given luxury jets to the mayor of Moscow, the head of Gazprom (the state-owned natural gas monopoly) and Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev. In the mid-1990’s Lukoil announced that it would sell another 15 % stake to foreign stockholders through its largest owner and financial adviser CS First Boston and the Bank of New York. [748] In 2002 they announced plans to sell off another big stake.

According to Kurt Wulff of the oil investment firm McDep Associates, the Four Horsemen, romping in their new Far East pastures, saw asset increases from 1988-1994 as follows: Exxon Mobil- 54%, Chevron Texaco- 74%, Royal Dutch/Shell- 52% and BP Amoco- 54%. The Horsemen had more than doubled their collective assets in six short years. This quantum leap in Anglo-American global power had everything to do with the takeover of the old Soviet oil patch and the subsequent impoverishment of its birthright owners.

Dean Henderson is the author of Big Oil & Their Bankers in the Persian Gulf: Four Horsemen, Eight Families & Their Global Intelligence, Narcotics & Terror Network, The Grateful Unrich: Revolution in 50 Countries and Das Kartell der Federal Reserve. Subscriptions to his Left Hook blog are FREE at http://www.deanhenderson.wordpress.com

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Don’t joke. If anyone dares even THINK to target against Russia, much less touch Russia, whats left of the KGB can still put a bullet in every single last Illuminated scum or plutocrat puppeteer. Marx is superior to USA’s current uncontrolled Capitalism where regards the 99% and the middle or lower wealth classes, so the 99% will be firmly behind Socialism/Communism. I can’t imagine Russia tolerating any such nonsense from a fiat wealth group that cannot even handle Iran without hiding behind a proxy USA and Israel. Not finished in the Middle East, can’t control Iraq or Afghanistan and want to try taking on Russia? Unbelievable. Russia could almost invade USA and win right now. China in fact while an ally of Russia has always been wary of Russia’s strength as well, and thats for conventionals not world destroying nukes like Israel or Iran have intentions for! In fact Dean had better tone down, or the KGB will fry Dean’s brain with a satellite without Dean knowing what happened.

The Illuminati can’t be that stupid to even dare try target Russia, they have the ‘class’ bought with money and extreme networks, but try the Soviet Red Guard with other Commie allies combing the world after they take out the USA (and cynically leave Israel for Iran to toy with? Iran is fundo-hateful but hopefully not insane enough to use nukes, though Israel might use Israels own nukes if they panic, so Iran, do the world a favour, don’t make Israel too frightened and wind up causing Israel to end up irradiating everyone . . . ) and ‘no match’ is still the word. BTW Dean probably just pissed off BOTH parties Russia and Illuminati by trying to pit them against each other . . .

Could you imagine going to jail for your faith? A recent report warns that it could happen.

CBN News investigated the growing wave of hostility to Christianity in America that’s led to hundreds of court cases.

No Religion Allowed

Angela Hildenbrand faced the very real possibility of going to jail for her faith. The trouble began when a federal judge ruled that no one at her Texas high school could pray or even use words like “prayer” or “amen” during the 2011 graduation ceremonies.

As class valedictorian, Hildenbrand felt God deserved the praise, even if it meant jail for her.

“I was definitely preparing myself to have to make that sort of tough decision and mentally prepare myself for what well could be coming next,” she told CBN News.

Hildenbrand’s case is just one of more than 640 cases of religious hostility cited in a new report by the Liberty Institute. General Counsel Jeff Mateer, who takes on many of these cases, helped put the survey together.

“The rate of hostility to people of faith is overwhelming,” he said. “It’s increasing. Every day, we’re getting calls.”

One call involved the Veterans Administration demanding to preview Scott Rainey’s prayer for a Memorial Day ceremony at Houston National Cemetery.

They told Rainey, who pastors the Living Word Church of the Nazarene in Houston, he couldn’t pray “in Jesus’ name.”

“I have never said a prayer in my life where I didn’t end it saying ‘in the name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen,'” Pastor Rainey said.

Contending for the Faith

Mateer is also working to save this veteran’s memorial cross in San Diego, one of several cases that could have serious national consequences if courts order their removal.

“Are we going to bulldoze all those crosses?” Mateer asked. “We’re going to sandblast God from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?”

But Mateer says the good news is, when believers fight back, they usually win.

“You need to stand up and fight,” he said. “And that’s exactly what Angela did.”

Just one day before Hildenbrand’s graduation, an appeals court ruled she could pray and say whatever she wanted.

“I thank You for Your great love for us and for our great nation, where we are free,” she prayed at her graduation. “And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

Courts eventually ruled that Pastor Rainey — and all veterans at burials — are allowed to freely express their faith.

But there is an across-the-board assault of religious hostility, and Americans’ religious liberty hangs in the balance.

[[[ *** RESPONSE ** ]]]

Let Christians stop abusing the people around them or let those abused or vilified by Christianity first be exhonerated and healed before any talk of fighting back. Until then hostility to this insane Aramean sect and cult of personality and cult of man, will continue until Monotheism is sandblasted off the Earth. Thats just one creep that inspires abuse and insanity in the followers, as opposed to the glory of the Universe and all beings not yet evolved but enslaved instantaneously with no chance to be Man’s equal by a verse in a biblical text written 2000 years ago as opposed to the Earth’s 2 billion years of age. Presumptuous egregore formed of the dead! Who gave the cult of a single fundamentalist man born 2000 years ago permission to disenfranchise the UNIVERSE and all non-human species? Christianity emboldens the followers to bully and disregard the rights of non-Christians, non-humans, all alien sentient/sapient life in the Universe . . .

ARTICLE 15

French National Front leader Marine Le Pen calls for ban on wearing of the Jewish skullcap in public – ‘in the name of equality’ – By Peter Allen – PUBLISHED: 16:55 GMT, 23 September 2012 | UPDATED: 18:01 GMT, 23 September 2012

Ban on full-face coverings – including the Islamic veil – came into force in France last year
Marine Le Pen is now calling for a ban on all religious headgear, as well as kosher and halal food in schools

‘What would people say if I only asked to ban Muslim clothing? They would burn me as a Muslim hater’

Far Right: French National Front leader Marine Le Pen has called for a ban on Jewish headgear

Far right politician Marine Le Pen has caused outrage across France by calling for the banning of the Jewish skullcap in public.

The leader of National Front won a fifth of the popular vote during the first round of May’s presidential election on a largely anti-Muslim immigration agenda.

Now in an interview she has called not just for a ban on the wearing of Islamic veils in public, but also the kippah – leading to France’s most senior Rabbi to describe her view as ‘deeply deplorable’.

Her inflammatory words come at a time of heightened tensions caused by a Paris satirical magazine’s decision to publish a series of cartoons mocking both Islam and Judaism.

One of the images in Charlie Hebdo shows a Prophet Mohammed character being pushed around in a wheelchair by a Rabbi.

Ms Le Pen told Le Monde that all religious headwear should be banned ‘in shops, on public transport and on the streets’.

‘It’s obvious that if the veil is banned, the kippah should be banned in public as well,’ she said. The French parliament passed a ban on full-face coverings, including the Islamic veil in 2010 and the law came into force last year.

Miss Le Pen, whose infamous father Jean-Marie Le Pen is a convicted racist and anti-Semite, also called for a ban on public prayers.

And she said kosher and halal foods should be outlawed in schools, along with foreign governments being allowed to pay for mosques.

Schoolgirl, 15, flees to France on a ferry with with her male maths TEACHER, 30, as her desperate parents beg for her to return home
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a giant manned dragonfly, a tool-box and tandem cyclists soaring across southern France
Crackdown as France bans anyone from protesting about cartoons criticising Prophet Mohammad

‘Jewish skullcaps are obviously not a problem in our country,’ she said, insisting nevertheless that France has to ‘ban them in the name of equality’.

‘The situation in our country has changed. We used to have a fragile balance between religions, but massive immigration has changed that,’ Ms Le Pen said.

‘Veils and jilbabs are putting us under pressure. France is a victim of sectarian political groups due to the ruling parties’ incapacity to deal with the problem.

‘What would people say if I had only asked to ban Muslim clothing? They would burn me as a Muslim hater.’

President Francois Hollande attacked Ms Le Pen’s comments.

‘Everything that tears people apart, opposes them and divides them is inappropriate,’ he said. ‘We must apply the rules, the only rules that we know – the rules of the Republic and secularism.’

Religious headgear: The kippah, or yarmulke, is usually worn by Orthodox or Hasidic Jews who believe the head must be covered at all times

On Friday Mr Hollande opened a new Holocaust memorial in Paris, commemorating the thousands of Jews who were sent to their deaths after being held at the Drancy internment camp.

The camp was run by French policemen working alongside the SS, and rolling stock from France’s national railway, SNCF, was used to take victims to Germany.

Mr Cope said: ‘Marine Le Pen wants to ban any signs of religion on the streets, starting with the veil and the kippah.

‘By doing this, she shows she does not understand anything about secularism. Secularism is not about the eradication of all religious expressions in society.’

Gilles Bernheim, France’s Chief Rabbi, said: ‘Mixing up the tradition of the skullcap and the veil only generates more confusion in people’s minds. I deeply deplore her statement.’

And Richard Prasquier, leader of the CRIF Jewish council in France, said the Ms Le Pen’s claims showed there were ‘secular fanatics just as there are religious fanatics’.

‘Obviously, I am hostile to both,’ he said.

The CFCM, France’s main Muslim council, meanwhile said that Le Pen wanted to ‘set up a totalitarian regime in France.’

There are around half-a-million Jews in France, many of them living in major cities like Paris, where skull caps have been a familiar sight for centuries.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As John F. Hickory of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City fame once said “I am not a racist I hate everyone regardless of other issues. . . . I’m a patriot! I’ve even got an orange grove tattooed all over my groin.”

Le Pen needs an Orange Grove tattooed on her groin.

ARTICLE 16

Katy Perry ‘Paid £1.2 Million’ To Sing At Holly Valance’s Lavish Wedding – And That’s Not All! All the pricey details on one fairytale wedding October 2, 2012

Every bride wants their wedding day to be special, but it looks like Holly Valance’s was a no expense spared kind of celebration as the ex Neighbours actress reportedly paid Katy Perry £1.2 million to perform at her wedding to billionaire business man Nick Candy.

The couple tied the knot on Saturday in a lavish ceremony in Beverley Hills, with the eventual costs reported to have topped £3 million. The ‘Firework’ singer performed a 45-minute set at the party, but she wasn’t the only entertainment as the cast of Jersey Boys were flown out from London to LA especially to perform for the bride, who is said to be a fan of the musical.

Of the 330 guests their were faces from fashion, celebrity, TV and even royalty. Nancy Dell’Olio, artist Tracey Emin, Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli and milliner Philip Treacy were amongst guests as were Simon Cowell, Elton John, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie who sipped champagne and mojito cocktails as they enjoyed the festivities and entertainment.

Holly Valance and Nick Candy tie the knot (Splash News)

Holly made sure all eyes were on her on the big day with her J’Aton Couture gown featuring a dramatic 15ft veil with sweetheart neckline. The custom made gown wasn’t exactly cheap either with the darker shades of the dress thought to have cost £35,000 alone.

The ‘Kiss Kiss’ singer made sure to thank the designer on Twitter for the creation, she wrote: “Thank u 2 the most supremely talented & divine humans I’ve come across in a long time @JAtonCouture U R just phenomenal. Love u & all u do.X [sic]”

Let’s hope they have some change left over for honeymoon.

The Most Lavish Wedding Ever? Holly and Nick Tie The Knot

Holly Valance is clearly a fan of the “more is more” school of thought – just check out that lavish train and veil! September 30 2012 (Splash News)

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Fellow stars should offer to perform for free. 1.2 mill for a wedding is just mercenary, especially for those in the same boat and same industry. How about covering 1.2 million worth of foreclosures for the average American about to lose their home instead of this meaningless and cynical wealth exchange between plutocrats?

ARTICLE 17

It’s not a nudist exhibition! Nancy Dell’Olio proves keen to show off the female form in low cut playsuit at gallery opening – by Fehintola Betiku – PUBLISHED: 01:21 GMT, 5 October 2012 | UPDATED: 06:53 GMT, 5 October 2012

At 51-years-old she has the confidence to step out in ensemble that some might argue are better suited to ladies half her age.

But not concerned with what naysayers have to say, Nancy Dell’Olio was pictured on Thursday evening in an eye-popping low cut playsuit.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star put her plunging attire to the test as she leaned forward and posed for photographers at the opening of Ellie Davies’ exhibition in London.

Doing it her way: Nancy Dell’Olio stepped out in a revealing all-in-one on Thursday evening as she attended photographer Ellie Davies’ exhibition in London

Allowing her loosely curled dark locks to fall at her shoulders, Nancy’s attempted to cover up a little by teaming her thigh skimming all in one with a pair of sheer tights.

FIRST LISTEN: Adele cements herself as a true Bond icon with release of official theme tune for Skyfall
Standing out for all the wrong reasons: The X Factor’s Rylan Clark commits fashion fail as contestants prepare for first live show
Lady in leather: The Saturdays’ Mollie King smoulders as she enjoys solo photo shoot

With a pair of knee high black suede heeled boots completing her look, Dell’Olio accessorised with silver looped drop earrings and a black clutch bag.

The ever glamorous American-Italian lawyer created feline eyes with lashings of black liner as she opted to keep the rest of her make-up to a minimal.

Eye popping! Nancy beamed as she posed for photographers in the low cut playsuit

Too much… The 51-year-old completed her look with knee high boots and a sheer tights

The socialite was seen making her presence known during exhibition, which was held at The Richard Young gallery, as she worked the room and chatted with other guests.

But ensuring her daring get-up didn’t go to waste, Nancy made her rounds whilst stopping every so often to strike a pose against a piece of art which lined the walls in the space.

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This is NOT near nudist anything. The whole dress is really conservative and somewhat classy, if not for the decolletage (also conservative V necked button top which is already unisex) , there would be no sense of feminity in the clothing. One sees more semi topless (semi-topless is not topless, topless with breasts entierly exposed alone, is not nudism either, just toplessness) people at gala events far more dressed down. This doesn’t really make any non-fundo type (or barely out of adolescent types, or ill disciplined types – Olio’s attached – so unless ready to fight for relationship rights with whoever don’t bother) feel anything.

Cements Adele as an ‘Bondworld’ icon? Not really . . . Adele’s the ‘Moneypenny’ of the Bondworld crossed with a young M more like . . .

With more than 26million followers on her Twitter account, it makes sense that Rihanna should choose the micro-blogging site to unveil promotional material for her new perfume.

‘Here is my new add for a brand new fragrance #NUDE !!! Make sure you smell sexy, especially naked, this fall,’ tweeted the Barbados-born recording artist on Friday.

The ad shows the 24-year-old mega star wearing nothing but cream lace lingerie, a piece of gauze fabric draped strategically over her crotch.
Her latest incarnation: Rihanna tweeted this new ad for her new fragrance ‘Nude’ on Friday

Her latest incarnation: Rihanna tweeted this new ad for her new fragrance Nude on Friday

‘Is there such a thing as loving two people?’ Chris Brown opens up about Rihanna romance in candid new video… which shows footage of pair together

The singer’s release of the photograph comes after a week of drama which saw her spend three nights running in the company of her ex Chris Brown, whose assault on his then girlfriend in 2009 left Rihanna hospitalised.

Debut: Rihanna wrote to her 26million followers about the fragrance on Friday

Another night with Chris: Rihanna heads to the airport after attending Jay-Z’s concert in New York with Brown

Brown on Thursday confirmed he had split from his current girlfriend, explaining he didn’t want to hurt Karrueche Tran as a result of his ‘friendship’ with Rihanna.

Brown then released a video in which he asks: ‘IS it possible to love two people?’

Meanwhile Rihanna made a veiled reference to Brown as she wrote on her Twitter: ‘Ain’t nobody bidness….. But mine and my baby!’

And friends of the pair are said to be concerned about their potential reconciliation.

Loving the drama: Friends of Chris and Rihanna are said to be concerned about the rconciliation

A source told RadarOnline.com: ‘Chris and Rihanna just love the drama. They know their fans don’t support them getting back together, and that it’s a terrible PR move since Chris was convicted of beating Rihanna.

‘However, this is what Chris and Rihanna thrive on. There are still major trust issues that Rihanna has with Chris, with good reason, he was hooking up with her while he was still dating Karrueche. Chris and Rihanna back together in any capacity is just a disaster in the making.’

Chris was yesterday seen jetting out of New York to Los Angeles following three consecutive nights of partying with Rihanna.

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Wearing any sort of lingerie or anything cancels nakedness because of the presence of clothing on the body, in this case lingerie. Which makes the advert oxymoronic in reference to name of the perfume. Also ‘cream lace’ (refers to the colour of the lace) is NOT THE SAME AS ‘cream lace lingerie’ (refers to the colour of the lace UPON the lingerie). Cream, lace and cream-lace are also different things when stated on their own. So if lingerie is being worn, a person cannot be naked. Cockt3as3! This perfume is going to be another misnomer if the inventor won’t even honour the name of the perfume by being naked on their own advert. Any REAL naked people ready to do a real naked perfume? Hint of a ‘less than rude girl’ appears! Get naked for REAL, no more of the misnomer dis-industry!

SUNGAI PETANI: The people should not take the country’s racial and religious harmony for granted as it can change overnight.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Friday that Malaysians of all races enjoyed various types of freedom such as religious and education freedom, apart from the nation’s peace, stability and economic growth.

He, however, cautioned that the harmonious situation should not be regarded as ‘automatic’.

He said that after the March 2008 General Election, it was obvious that racial and religious relationships seemed to be under tremendous stress because of intense politicking.

“This is further aggravated in PAS-led states such as Kelantan and Kedah, where there is no alcohol, no gambling, no cinema, no live concert, and male and female segregation,” he said before opening MCA Sungai Petani’s Merdekaraya dinner gathering at Dewan Beng Siew here Friday night.

Dr Chua said that despite all these, PAS’ ally in Pakatan Rakyat, the DAP, would continue to assure non-Muslims that PAS would not implement hudud and that it would not impose its values on them.

“But, this is happening right before us. Even if DAP objects to hudud, it is only (DAP national chairman) Karpal Singh who opposes hudud. The rest are so quiet about it,” he said.

Dr Chua said it was a big lie by the DAP that it would not allow hudud to be implemented and that hudud would not affect the non-Muslims.

“Hudud will definitely affect the whole nation and everybody,” he said.

Dr Chua noted that hudud would reduce foreign direct investment, affect tourism and the service sector, cause lack of confidence among local investors and affect the economic sector as a whole.

He said if PAS were to amend the Constitution and say it would be according to its religious teachings, then all Muslim Members of Parliament (MP) would have to support it.

He said the situation would be similar to when PAS amended the State Constitution in Trengganu, all Umno state assemblymen there had to support it.

“So, there is no such thing as that hudud cannot be implemented because it can be implemented.

“MCA’s stand on hudud is very clear. This is a multiracial country and religion should not be politicised,” he said.

Dr Chua said hudud would divide Muslims and non-Muslims, adding that it might cause friction and turn racial.

Is that so? This is as much everyone’s country as the government’s. Do not threaten the Rakyat and end apartheid instead. Do not take Rakyat’s silence for harmony or think the people accept apartheid and extreme religion. Overnight on GE13, the Rakyat will change any offending politician instead of being threatened with ‘change’ as MCA dares now. So BN can keep being a lapdog or a racist and be removed by the people instead. People! Lets change ALL the racists and lapdogs or obscenely rich, term limitless or fundo MPs and politicians overnight . . .

ARTICLE 2

‘Better the devil you know’, Dr M tells voters – August 22, 2012

Dr Mahathir said BN needed only to be prodded before it will give the people what they want. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 ? Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today Malaysians were better off with the “devil [they] know” in Barisan Nasional (BN) than a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal government he said was likely to bankrupt the country with its populist promises.

“The BN has listened to the people and has changed many laws and policies. All that the people need to do is to urge the BN to carry out whatever change the people desire.

“Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t,” the former prime minister wrote in a posting on his popular blog today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to call for a general election soon, but attacks from PR and a number of scandals involving his administration have delayed such plans.

The Najib administration has also introduced a number of new policies as well as reversals in an attempt to blunt PR’s promises for reforms if the latter takes power.

The prime minister was forced to establish a royal commission to probe the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah following a number of minor defections there to PR.

He has also promised to repeal the controversial Sedition Act, after abolishing other security laws earlier this year.

But PR has made dents in the BN armour with recent revelations involving a national cattle farming project scandal and by highlighting possible government interference in a contract for the city’s LRT extension project.

The federal opposition has also promised cheaper cars to Malaysians in return for support.

Writing in his blog today, Dr Mahathir appeared to compare PR with US President Barack Obama, and suggested that the opposition parties’ promises for change were just that — promises.

“In his campaign to become President of the US, Barack Obama promised change. He promised to close down Guantanamo Detention Camp. He promised to stop trials of detainees by Military Courts. He promised to pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, four years into his first term, he has failed to keep his promises.

“Now the opposition in Malaysia have copied Obama and is promising change.”

While he acknowledged that BN has ruled Malaysia for long, he pointed out that the coalition had a good track record.

“Five years to give (PR) a trial as government is dangerous. Many things can be destroyed in five years. Besides, the opposition as government will ensure there will be no return for the BN. Officers in the government will be used to ‘gempar’ (threaten) whoever tries to change government.

“Already we see this person who claims to fight for free speech suing and resorting to the courts to shut the mouth of his critics. Other powers of the government will be similarly abused.

“Nepotism and cronyism will be employed as indeed they are in the party he now heads,” he said in an apparent reference to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

AUG 23 — A few days ago, a Facebook account profiling itself as “Umno Youth Malaysia”, published a seditious poster “If you agree to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia, carry on supporting Pakatan Rakyat. God bless you”.

Many Internet users were not happy with the poster and left comments condemning Umno Youth. The posting has also angered Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers and they demanded an explanation from Umno Youth. Although the poster was later deleted, the damage has been made to Pakatan Rakyat, as well as Umno Youth.

Some issues, such as racial and religious issues, are very sensitive in our country’s political arena. Those who talk about the issues, as well as those who listen to them, must be very rational. If someone deliberately provokes sentiments, it could lead to a situation not easy to be cleaned up.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin promptly responded and claimed some people had planted “stolen goods” on the party’s wing and that the Facebook account was not the official site of Umno Youth, adding that a police report had been lodged.

If the social networking site that published the dangerous messages and seditious content that could incite emotions was really a fake, the intention of those who made it is indeed very obvious.

A few days ago, there was another similar incident. A rumour claiming that Kedah MCA chairman Datuk Chong Itt Chew had paid RM500 to dismiss an injured woman in a car accident was spread across Facebook.

The woman later stepped forward to refute the rumour. She and Chong had also lodged police reports respectively.

The two incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. Any politician, regardless of which party they are from, might become victims of online framing. It is believed that the number of fake news and messages online would increase because of the approaching general election.

It is not easy to judge whether a scandal is true or false. Even if we are not able to verify, we should at least be suspicious instead of blindly believe them all. Some messages, after all, are deliberately created by some people and some photos have been edited to attack political opponents.

Some people just blindly believe all information online and share them with others. This is also why much information is widely spread before it is confirmed to be authentic.

As the general election is approaching, it is foreseeable that various scandals involving politicians would continue to emerge. Regardless of whether it is on Facebook or other online media, there would be so-called “exposed” news and photos involving politicians.

Faking Facebook accounts to smear political enemies is expected to become one of the dirty tricks in the forthcoming election’s online warfare.

It is a test to the maturity of netizens whether to believe and spread them or not. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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The dirtiest single event in Malaysian political history apart from Ops Lallang, is DAP promising to declare MP assets THEN refusing to declare assets, and even daring to ask EXCO to declare instead in an insulting bait and switch method. This is compounded by EXCO being INSTALLED not elected via Local Council Elections which DAP promised to implement but did not and now uses the EC to pretend they cannot implement Local Council Elections with. 90% of DAP’s other campaign promises have failed. Not so great PAP mentors DAP has . . .

ARTICLE 4

People now better at judging government, says Husni – August 20, 2012

IPOH, Aug 20 — The people have become more mature in their assessment of the government’s initiative to introduce various facilities for their benefit, noted Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Describing the opposition’s pledges as merely a populist strategy to gain political mileage, he said: “Inevitably, in the political arena, there is always a segment of society that has a tendency to align itself to the opposition.

“Nevertheless, the people’s support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) is growing and they are now more aware of the government’s earnestness to chart a future for them.”

Speaking to reporters at his Aidilfitri open house here today, Ahmad Husni said the government was constantly seeking ways to assist the people.

He said the newest initiatives in that regard were the 1 Malaysia Privilege Card for policemen and soldiers and the KDS1M discount card for students.

“Our focus is on alleviating the people’s burden in the face of rising global food prices.

“It is during crises such as these that the people will realise who they can trust, and who they can count upon,” he added. — Bernama

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NO support is NOT increasing, perhaps support for PR is decreasing, but that does not mean that support for BN increases either. Hegelian dialectic AGAIN. BN has the mandate to grant :

;but does not use that mandate, preferring to allow the Rakyat to suffer. Equality is about not being insulted not those crutches offered by government. The government has no earnestness to chart a future for the Rakyat but lots of bribe paradigm methods. This is merely equality and BN refuses to give the Rakyat what they want. Causing social crises such as these, people realise who they can trust, and who they can count upon. BN certainly CANNOT be counted on unless the above 3 items are granted refusing to use that mandate as per the Hadiths or the UN Charter which Malaysia is a signatory of. People now better at judging PROPAGANDA as well Husni. This is shameless spin and pandering to the ego of the Rakyat. The Rakyat need good policy like ending apartheid and ending crony capitalism not false praise of the people’s ability to identify falsehood or bad governance.

Malaysians by and large are hypocrites who only talk but will do the opposite of what they say. They demand that others do what they themselves refuse to do. They are very fast with their mouth and freely swear and curse others while they will not tolerate any disagreement.

What irks me is not criticism. I can take criticism. What irks me is hypocrisy. And there is much hypocrisy behind that veil that hides the face. And that hypocrisy comes in many forms.

How do I despise thee? Let me counts the ways.

One form of hypocrisy is regarding Hudud.

I respect the right of Islamists to advocate the Islamic Sharia law of Hudud, as is the right of anyone in a democracy to advocate whatever they want, including more Chinese schools or more Hindu temples or gay rights or whatever.

It is therefore hypocritical, in a democracy, for anti-Hudud proponents to vilify pro-Hudud proponents by calling them barbarians just as it is hypocritical for pro-Hudud proponents to vilify anti-Hudud proponents by calling them infidels (whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims).

1) Hypocritical to try to justify amputation of people’s limbs PERIOD. If amputation is not villainous for a mere snatch theft for example, RPK needs to get his head checked. What does stealing national funds get? Beheadings? Why does RPK even bother to argue this?OBVIOUSLY amputation is barbaric. Call a spade a spade, call an Islamist apologist an islamist apologist. RPK is a fake among intelligensia for even trying to counter that Hudud is not barbaric or that Hudud does deserve respect. Extreme punishment deserves no respect.

In a democracy everyone has the right to advocate whatever he or she want to advocate without being ridiculed and vilified. And both sides — the pro-Hudud proponents as well as the anti-Hudud proponents — demonstrate a lack of democratic spirit. This is hypocrisy when you shout about democracy but you refuse to allow democracy.

2) This is being the devil’s advocate and argument for argument’s sake. There is NOTHING democratic about amputating people’s limbs.

Whether the Federal Constitution of Malaysia allows the implementation of Hudud is a matter open to debate.

3) NO. The world over, to all non-extremists amputation for any crime is MORALLY WRONG. RPK worries, this myth about blood thirsty Muslims is not being helped by advocating Hudud.

Whether Malaysia is a fully-fledged Secular State considering that Islam is stipulated as the religion of the Federation, whether Malaysia is already an Islamic country (not quite meaning Islamic State) as declared by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and whether the Constitution allows or forbids the implementation of Hudud does not take way the right of anyone who wishes to propagate or oppose Hudud.

You can propose or oppose Hudud. That is your right. You can’t take away that right to propose or oppose it. And in this instance both sides are guilty of not respecting the democratic right to argue Hudud and hence both sides are hypocrites.

…
written by Admiral Tojo, August 19, 2012 20:06:34
There is NO such thing as Hudud laws in Quran. We should use the Quran to argue with these hudud junkies. The Arabs, who invented this hudud laws of the desert themselves as labelled ‘MUNAFEEQUNS – HYPOCRITES” as in 9:97 Quran. So, if you follow them and create institutions to propagate this disbelieve, you yourself become a hypocrite and will practise hypocrisy willfully. For further reference and hopefully the riddance of hypocrisy please visit mentalbondageinthenameofgod.wordpress.com

Malaysians complain that Malaysia does not respect the right of its citizens to criticise the government or the country’s leaders. Doing so would result in you facing charges under the Sedition Act, they lament. However, Malaysians have a very low tolerance level when you criticise the government they love, whether state or federal, and when you criticise the leaders they love, whether from Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. This is not in the spirit of a democracy and is hypocrisy from both sides of the political divide.

4) Then RPK ducks behind the pathos of bad politics in Malaysia. Take a break ‘Princey’ this writing is BAD and getting worse. Thats all. Don’t even write anymore, I can’t believe RPK wrote this . . .

Muslims talk about Islam almost non-stop. And if you say anything negative about Islam they will scream and accuse you of insulting Islam and will demand your blood. These Muslims say we must follow the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Hadith and if we do not then we are not Muslims but will, in fact, become an infidel or kafir. However, these same Muslims elect their government through a kafir system of Parliamentary general elections modelled after the kafir Westminster system of government. How can Muslims who scream Islam, Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith adopt a system that does not follow the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah? Is this not hypocrisy? “But if we do not comply with the kafir system then how would we get into power?” these Muslims will argue. Would cleansing yourself in the toilet bowl purify you?

5) Prophet Muhammad NEVER mentioned amputation or hudud. That was probably a Bedouin punishment, NOT Islam which was derived from Christianity after all. 600 years to reach the Middle East from Aramea seems fair enough. Then, pathos punctuation with the ‘below waist’ reference. Dear me, RPK sure RPK had a Royal upbringing? Maybe still viable for streetfighter politics with the pottier mouthed political animals, but RPK my man, you sure ain’t no leader or statesman . . .

Muslims refuse to accept that they are saying one thing but doing the other. And that is hypocrisy. If Islam is supposed to be supreme, then everything else that is placed above Islam must be rejected, the general elections included. If not then Islam will not be supreme since Islam will come under the system. Are Muslims prepared to place Islam supreme by rejecting everything that is not Islam, the general elections included, even if they can’t get into power? The Muslims believe that the Four Caliphs who came after Prophet Muhammad were the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, meaning God or Allah guided them. Hence what they did is not what they did but what Allah guided them to do. When the First Caliph after Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakar, was about to be chosen, the citizens of Medina asked him how can they be assured that he would be a fair, honest, just, etc., leader? Abu Bakar took out his sword and placed it on the ground before him and told the crowd that if he deviates and is not true to his word then they are to take his sword and cut off his head. That was the example of Abu Bakar, which Muslims are very proud to tell us.

6) . . . Abu Bakar took out his sword and placed it on the ground before him and told the crowd that if he deviates and is not true to his word then they are to take his sword and cut off his head. . . . Who is RPK chanelling? Auda Ibn Tayi? (pun intended, if offended do warn, that purifying toilet bowl might just work here . . . ) . . . Lawrence of Arabia 1962, David Lean . . . This was before the invention of the UN Human Rights Charter and MODERN LAW. Inapplicable example. In the past there was also ‘Trial By Combat’ in which the victor was right regardless of circumstances. Does this response make how bad your example and premise of that para clear to you RPK?

At the moment we have not even taken a sword to cut off the heads of our leaders yet, which Abu Bakar said we must do and as reported in the Hadith. At the moment we only criticise them in the Blogs and in the Internet and everyone is foaming at the mouth and curse us and call us all sorts of nasty names. This is hypocrisy, especially those Muslims who are so proud of Islam, the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the Hadith, Prophet Muhammad and the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs as well as those non-Muslims who say they want to change the government because they want more democracy and freedom of speech.

…
written by din, August 19, 2012 16:42:56
Hello RPK, chopping off hands is it not barbaric in this modern year, are you trying to tell you agree by chopping off hands, you have forgotten what you (RPK) have gone thru…………

7) . . . after the total ‘pandering to fundos’ nonsense in the earlier half of the article, sympathy and correlation with bloggers, to what ends . . .

Malaysians are so passionate about the political parties that they support, both sides of the political divide. They will vilify and curse those who criticise the party they support and will call you all sorts of nasty names. However, less than one-third of registered voters are card-bearing members of political parties. They are so passionate about ‘their’ political party and will not tolerate an iota of criticism against ‘their’ political party. And they love ‘their’ political party so much that they will not even spend RM1 to become a member of ‘their’ party. This is hypocrisy. And they will demand that others who are neutral and are not members of any political party to show loyalty to ‘their’ party. And if we do not they will condemn us like hell for not showing loyalty to the party that they did not even pay RM1 to become a member of.

8) Who needs a political party? Anyone who amends laws and GTFO of Dewan after 2 terms will do. This sort of scavenging behaviour for the wealthier candidates or term limitless ‘careerists’ that become nepotistic is shameful at best, detestable at worst.

Readers of Malaysia Today call me a coward for refusing to go back to Malaysia to ‘face charges’ when there are no pending charges against me. And they make this allegation using false names and false e-mail addresses while cowardly refusing to register to comment in Malaysia Today because they want to remain anonymous. This is hypocrisy. One million Malaysians live overseas and these people are demanding a change of government because they are fed up with the same government for the last 55 years. They want us to sacrifice for the good of the nation. But they refuse to sacrifice their time and money to go back to Malaysia to register as voters or go back to Malaysia to vote during the by-elections or general elections. Sacrifice is what they want others to do, not what they will do.

9) Hey! We’re not a Raja who could get ‘daddy” (Sultan) to pardon in case things get too hot, or holding degrees and being well fed and rested, well thought of for DECADES instead of the extreme abuse some of us had to endure for lack of patronage or wealth. Most of us do not have Assange-like networks and a high profile to bail ourselves out IF something goes wrong here in the 3rd world. If there are no charges, get back here and make good on all your b.s.. You want to complain because there is no change? Well run for candidacy to put forward bills for change or at least fund a candidate or few. Tengku Razaleigh term limitless to boot as is is 20+ years senior to RPK, this refusal is not about having a thin skin or insufficient finances? One million Malaysians who live overseas that cannot afford to fight here or do not have a strong network are justified, RPK is not, because of all the above advantages . . .

This is hypocrisy. Malaysians by and large are hypocrites who only talk but will do the opposite of what they say. They demand that others do what they themselves refuse to do. They are very fast with their mouth and freely swear and curse others while they will not tolerate any disagreement.

10) . . . and being married to Marina Mahathir living off the BILLIONS stolen why don’t you ask Marina for being a beneficiary of that wealth to offer to start hudud being such a promoter if hudud? NO EXCUSES or comparisons to 1 million Malaysians from where RPK stands. I’m beginning to believe that those who call RPK a vile whatever seem true, with the addition of HYPOCRISY if not extreme cowardice or just being a lapdog counter propaganda man. There is no need for disagreement here as this RPK writer is proving to be most undemocratic and disagreeable in support of obviously undemocratic hudud (ask the 1st world how many think amputating limbs is democratic or worthy of respect, might as well bring back ‘Trial By Combat’ and say that is respectable . . . one to seek justice, the other to dispense justice, BOTH involving maiming or bloody solutions . . . ) and round condemnation of the overseas Rakyat. Well that makes clear what RPK and possibly People’s Parliament part of the problem not the solution. C’mon write better RPK, I’m sure you can, and by not returning to Malaysia, be branded a coward and a flatulent fart of a armchair blogger instead if a real 2 term intent politician . . .

Sarawak police raided a village and detained five people whose names were not even in the report filed by a plantation company for allegedly burning a bridge.

Some 500 angry villagers with their children from Melikin and nearby longhouses in Serian and Simunjan stormed the Serian police station yesterday, demanding the release of five individuals who were detained on Sunday night for allegedly causing a fire.

The villagers learnt that the five – Sanjan Ambol, 58, Musit Ngawing, 52, Tuai Rumah Nyalu Tampa, 55, Samad Junna, 41, and Singa Unsit, 58, – were to be charged at the Serian district court. All five were villagers from Melikin, Danau Melikin and Ensebang Plaie.

The villagers first went to the Serian district office, but on hearing that they were still being detained at the Serian police station, they rushed there and demanded that the detainees be released immediately.

The police had to restrain the angry villagers from entering the police compound and even threatened to arrest them, but they ignored the warning.

The five detainees were released at about 11am without any charge being framed against them despite being remanded for three days.

Freed detainee longhouse chief Nyalu Tampa expressed surprise to see so many people had come to support them.

“Their support gives us strength and makes us more determined to defend our NCR [native customary rights] land,” he said.

The detainees’ lawyer, See Chee How, said that they were arrested on Sunday night after representatives of United Teamtrade Oil Palm Company lodged a report that a bridge to the plantation was burnt.

“My clients should not have been arrested in the middle of the night when the police have not carried out investigation first.

“They simply arrested them based on a report lodged by the company, and without concrete evidence. Moreover, this is not a serious crime.

“Why can’t they wait until the next morning? I can even ask my clients to surrender themselves to any police station,” said See, who is also Sarawak PKR vice-Chairman and the Batu Lintang assemblyman.

See said that he received a call on Sunday night from one of the villagers telling him that the police were at the village to arrest the five persons.

Illegal arrest

He said he spoke to Inspector Azlan Abdul Wahab who led the police party and asked him why they were arresting the villagers for a minor act.

He told Azlan that they could have just asked the individuals to surrender themselves in the morning.

“But he told me that his instruction was for him to arrest them immediately. I asked him who was his superior so that I could talk to him.

“Azlan told me that his instruction was very strict, and could not tell me, ” said See.

He added that he informed Azlan that the police action was malicious and illegal.

“Moreover, no one has been identified in the police report made by the company.

“It is very malicious on the part of Azlan [to arrest the villagers]. I hope that he was not instructed by a senior police officer because it is bad.

“You have not done any investigation and yet you arrest them. That is illegal,” he said.

Besides questioning the legality of the arrest, See also questioned the rationale for bringing the five detainees all the way to Tebedu sub-district for the application of a remand order.

He said when he went to Serian on Monday, the application for the remand order was not done in Serian because the district officer who is also the magistrate was not in Serian.

The police, he said, could have asked the Tebedu Sarawak Administrative Officer come down, but they did not do it.

“Why did the police want to make it so difficult? They could also have taken the five villagers to the Balai Ringin sub-district which is a stone’s throw from Melikin.

“But when you apply for a remand order, you must first carry out an investigation and tell the magistrate why you need it.

“The police should have investigated the detainees during the night, but they did not do it,” said See.

Legal action against cops

See said the five detainees have instructed him to take legal action against the company and the government for taking away their land as well as against the police for arresting them without proof.

The dispute between the company and the native landowners has reached a critical point after the company issued a notice demanding anyone riding a motorcycle using the company’s road will have to pay RM5 per entry.

For cars, the drivers have to pay RM30 and for 4WD vehicles, the drivers will have to pay RM50 per entry.

The toll has angered the people who have lands and farms at the other side of the plantation and in retaliation, the native landowners mounted a blockade to stop the company from using their road to the plantation.

***Commentator Comments :

Sabah & Sarawak are a total tragedy, swindled and sucked dry Taib, PBB, & by Putrajaya. Not even a proper trunk road! The natives lack electricity and drinking water while Criminals bought submarines and built twin towers costing multi-billions for kick-backs. All cronies live in palaces. Outrageous! Just compare: Scotland in Great Britain and Quebec in Canada had an open, honest & fair national referendum on cessation/separation. Any talk of independence and your ex CM Tun Faud Donald Stephen died in a crash. BN’s evil is earth-shaking. Finish them off now!

Comment by alan newman, new zealand — August 17, 2012 @ 9:12 PM

500,000 natives should have already taken to the streets demanding for the thief minister, Taib mahmud, to be investigated and prosecuted for abusing his authority and position in grabbing NCR lands and alienated more than one million hectares of state lands to his own family members and close cronies under the cleverly engineered “payments in kind” policy of the thief minister

Under the payment in kind policy, the Sarawak State Government would approve and award mega projects to his children’s group of companies at a highly inflated cost and then alienated huge tract of state lands with high valued timbers in lieu of payments. The premium calculation for such lands would usually be only RM300.00 per acre.

For every RM10,000,00.00 the Sarawak State Government “owed” Titanium Management Sdn Bhd which is owned by Taib’s son and its subsidiaries, his son’s company would gain 33,333 acres of state owned lands.

All Dayaks must vote out UMNO controlled BN led by the master grand thief in Putrajaya and the grand thief in Sarawak.

Comment by Mata Kuching — August 17, 2012 @ 2:01 PM

We must applaud the police for being very very ” prompt” in their action in arresting innocent villagers. They came in the cover of darkness,ill prepared to do an improper arresting job. That Tuan Azlan fella must be very very nervous by now for being a stooge of the Oil Palm Company and “tricked” to do their dirty job for them. Good for him to simply take orders without determining the legality and ramifications of his ill intended actions. Wonder whats going to happened to him next with such a lousy KPI? I wonder too, what is to happen to the father and son who were battered by land grabbing thugs a few months back? Why the so so very slow police action and no arrests done on that case which have evidents as clear as the blue sky. Perhaps the police only work in dark places where evidents are hidden and fuzzy? To the tuan azlan,if you want to spice up your KPI,go arrest the thugs who beat the father and sons. Thats easier then to simply follow orders form your Towkay Sawit without any inkling of what you are doing! And do not simply barge into the kampongsn at night and arrest inocent villages unless you intend to arrest the whole village population when they come to meet you in your office for an explanation! Now how to hide your bias towards your Oil Palm towkay. Presumably your second pay cheque is from the land grabing towkay?

Last night, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak tweeted that he has asked the Cabinet to review the controversial Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950. This is another back-flip by Najib and his BN government seeking to reverse what is undoubtedly a grievous error that is unjust and irrational piece of legislation following outrage and popular protest by civil society movements and opposition parties.

Yesterday, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia successfully organised the Malaysian Internet Blackout Day initiative which received full support from various news portals, activists such as Marina Mahathir, various NGOS such as the Bar Council and also opposition parties including the DAP.

This Internet Blackout Day initiative was organised to oppose Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950, an ignominious amendment passed by the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara earlier this year, which effectively enables law enforcement officials to hold one accountable for publishing seditious, defamatory, or libelous content online, as long as the allegedly defamatory content is traced back to one’s username, electronic device, and/or WiFi network.

Guilty until proven innocent

One is also presumed to be guilty of publishing illicit content on the Internet unless one can prove otherwise. In other words, Section 114A goes against the basic principle of law by laying the burden of proof on the accused instead of the accuser. Anyone can make an accusation without showing proof, it is the accused that must show proof that he or she is innocent. This is typical BN mentality where they can make simply make wild and even false allegations against opposition PR leaders who then have to show proof that they are innocent

The Prime Minister’s flip-flop also follows statements by BN lawmakers such as Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin and an MCA senator who apparently now oppose a law which they had voted for.

Why is it that Khairy and others are now so keen to show Malaysians that they oppose the law when the could have easily chosen not to vote for it when it was tabled? Is it not merely duplicity for them to speak out now to claim credit for an popular initiative by the rakyat?

This proves that BN leaders are complete frauds, and that the supposed Government Transformation Programme is nothing but a sham. The undeniable fact is that without the protest by civil society and opposition parties, there would not be any talk of a review. For Khairy and others to claim credit now is nothing less than opportunism.

The only way out now for Najib and the Cabinet is to prove their sincerity is by apologising and revoking not reviewing Section 114A of the Evidence Act immediately in the coming session or risk being exposed as duplicitous.

If no apology is forthcoming from the Prime Minister, then the people will see this as nothing more than a political stunt.

All BN MPs Must Prove Their Sincerity By Immediately Apologising For Their Complicity In Passing Section 114A Of The Evidence Act And Revoking not reviewing It At The Coming Parliamentary Meeting Beginning On 24 September 2012 Or Risk Being Exposed As Political Fraudsters To Deceive The Voters During The Coming General Elections.

LIM GUAN ENG IS THE PENANG CHIEF MINISTER & DAP SEC-GEN

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

No locus standi to demand. 90% of campaign promises unkept. Promised Local Council Elections failed with undemocratically installed EXCO instead. BN would not apologize to those who also do the same. Pot calling kettle black. PR and Guan Eng (2 terms as CM nearly up, more than 2 terms as MP, with family members throughout the political party . . . ) should apologize for failing to keep campaign promises instead before even trying to ask BN to apologize for something as inconsequential as internet law when APARTHEID exists, we we do not even have :

‘You walk the talk first’ but shouldn’t Marina tell this to her DAD first & foremost – Written by Marina Mahathir – Thursday, 16 August 2012 21:21

REPRINT The Government wants us to change our lifestyles to cope with inflation.

It is easier said than done since most people were having it difficult even before the hikes. The Government must first set an example by doing things it should have done long ago.

WITH the recent hike in fuel prices and the Government’s exhortations for us to change our lifestyles in order to cope, may I provide here some suggestions for the Government and those who work for it to “share our burden”.

1. Stop having meetings, especially out at resorts, far enough away to be able to claim transport allowances. Have online meetings instead or teleconferences. Use Skype or chat.

2. No need to order special pens, bags, T-shirts, notepads and other goodies for those same meetings.

3. No need to order kuih for mid-morning or teatime meetings in government offices, or nasi briyani lunches for those meetings that happen to end just at lunchtime.

4. Cancel all trips for government servants to conferences overseas unless they return with full reports of what they did there, who they met and what they learnt and how they mean to apply what they learnt at home. Ask them to do presentations to colleagues who did not get to go, on the most interesting and important papers that they read.

5. Scrutinise invoices for contracts to make sure they are truly reflective of what those projects or supplies cost.

6. Stop elaborate launches for government programmes. In particular, stop the buying of souvenirs, special batik shirts, corsages, bouquets and caps.

7. Make all civil servants and politicians travel economy class. That means really travelling at the back of the plane and not buying full fare economy class tickets that allow them to be upgraded to Business Class.

8. Stop having the full complement of police escorts to cut down on petrol costs. If they need to be somewhere by a certain time, start earlier like the rest of us. Wouldn’t be a bad thing for them to also experience a traffic jam.

9. Once a week (or more), have ministers use public transport so they know what everyone else has to suffer. This might provide them with the incentive to improve them.

10. Once a week, let ministers go to a market to buy food for their families with instructions to not spend more than RM100.

11. Get ministers to carpool. They might get more work done just by being able to talk to each other to see what can be coordinated between their ministries. For instance, the Ministers of Health and Women could discuss what to do about women’s health issues in the car on the way to work. Maybe have a secretary to travel in the front seat to take down notes on what was discussed. By the time they get to their offices, things can get implemented.

12. Once a month, get civil servants to work with one disadvantaged group in order to be better able to appreciate their problems. It could be blind people one month, hearing disabled people the next, orang asli the following month andpeople living with HIV/AIDS after that.We could start buddy systems which pair one civil servant with one disadvantaged person and at the end of it, ask each pair to make recommendations on how to make life better for each other. This might get rid of the problem of desk jockeys, people who never stray very far from their desks yet make policies for people they know nothing about.

13. Have PA systems that shout out the name of the officers who have to serve people at government offices so that people get the services they came for and don’t have to keep coming back just because the officer was out having coffee. No counter should be left unmanned for more than five minutes before the officer is paged to go back to their stations. This should cut down waiting time for the public and save them transport costs in having to keep returning just to get one thing done.

14. Government officers who lose people’s files should be fined and have their names publicised for being careless and causing inconvenience to the public. Instead of making the public travel to their offices several times to deal with their problems, they should travel to go see their client and deal with it right there and then. And every officer who goes out of the office should be given a reasonable time to get his work done after which he is expected back in office so he doesn’t waste time doing something else.

15. And newspapers should save paper by reporting real news rather than non-news that they carry, particularly nonsensical utterances by politicians. As they say, we need to do this all together in order to make a difference. So if the Government and politicians make these lifestyle changes, I will do my part and change mine.

Thank You.

Marina Mahathir is the daughter of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad

Mailbag

***Commentator Comments :

Friday, 17 August 2012 08:48 posted by U Trust Her?

Can u trust the offspring of a snake? An evil one too, lying through his teeth?
The greatest looter, deceiver, is still loose and still stir up irritants through the world “Malay” and “Islam” but earning billions out of it! The Kerala outcast becomes the king maker in malaysia through lying cheating and deceiving and evil intents.Even now, prospective MP have to be vetted by him for election!! How powerful – in this ??? country!
No wonder R Tee is salivating and quickly turned himself into Malay hoping to jump on the bandwagon to dirty, illegal riches! Too late R Tee, u will end up in shit. The curtain of this lying art is falling and u just appear on the show. Watch out the s*** is falling down on all the actors including in Marina and his whole family. And u r in it too!

Thursday, 16 August 2012 23:47 posted by dickhead johnnie

I never trusted this lady. I suspect she’s just daddy’s test balloon to see which direction the wind is blowing. She is part of a family which is not unlike Shahrizat’s lembu family. Only problem is the cows in Sharizat’s stay in luxury condos whereas the cows of the Mamajutty resides in offshore bank vaults like airconned Swiss cows. She is Mahathir’s alternate weapon like Rocky Bru and RPK, Be wary of her and her writing,,,,she carries a double edged pen mightier than the parang,

Friday, 17 August 2012 02:10 posted by PR voter

No lah Marina, don’t waste time telling all these nonsense. These are kacang putih. You should tell your father to return to national coffer all the money he had stolen through bailout, 10% contracts he received as commission, Ali baba businesses etc…. Sick of her hypocritical essays. Marina, actually you are in no position to say anything, comment about anything about other people as long as you keep silent on your father’s misdeeds to this nation. Your comments are all bias as long as you don’t mention a word about your father, understand? We don’t buy your message.

ARTICLE 9

Dr M & the Sabah RCI: ‘Mother of all gambles’ that Najib has already LOST – Written by Joe Fernandez, Stan Lee, Malaysia Chronicle – Monday, 13 August 2012 09:53

As the saying goes, you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time. And this is evident in the much-panned 8-point Royal Commission of Inquiry into the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday.

Not only has Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim slammed the RCI as being another political “gimmick”, he has accused Najib of deliberately designing the RCI’s scope so as to protect the culprits behind the citizenship-for-votes scam at the heart of the issue. This scam has been blamed for many of the problems prevalent in Sabah including overcrowding, rising crime, violence, poverty and social tensions between the locals and the illegals.

“These are major criminal acts, particularly when it involves corruption and cheating and falsifying documents. These are serious flaws, but of course, these are not part of the RCI’s terms of reference,” Anwar told reporters after a huge rally in Kota Marudu on Sunday.

Najib had empowered a 5-member panel to probe if foreigners in the state were unlawfully awarded Malaysian ICs or citizenships and included in the electoral roll. But the panel’s terms, as Anwar and other Pakatan leaders including DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang have pointed out, do not include an investigation to identify those involved in handing out citizenships unlawfully.

“Yes, it seems Dr Mahathir is clearly nervous about the RCI,” said Anwar, referring former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

“But they must have given their assurance that they will not pick at who is at fault, who are the people taking money or falsifying documents and why. So that means the entire RCI is just flawed.”

Dissatisfied Sabah leaders continue to leave BN

In a bid to counter the Opposition’s arguments and to defuse Anwar’s growing clout in East Malaysia, the Umno-controlled mainstream media has tried to drag him into the illegals fray, arguing that he was Mahathir’s deputy during the 1980s and the one responsible for establishing Umno in Sabah.

But as Anwar’s aides pointed out, setting up Umno in Sabah and formulating a “treasonous” scheme to grant citizenship to illegals so that they would vote for BN and ensure it stay in power are 2 different issues. Anwar himself has denied any knowledge or involvement in the Project IC or as many call it Project M (for Mahathir), saying that he was “kept out of the loop” in this matter.

Indeed, the counter-propaganda and Najib’s RCI have failed to discourage fed-up Sabah leaders from leaving the Barisan Nasional fold. Sunday’s rally was to announce the crossing over of another senior BN leader Senator Maijol Mahap over to Anwar’s side of the political divide.

Maijol, a former Upko vice president, is the 3rd senior Sabah BN leader to switch allegiance and the exodus is expected to intensify after the Hari Raya celebrations.

While Maijol has not announced joining any particular Pakatan Rakyat party, he joins Tuaran MP Wilfrid Bumburing and Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin as members of a newly set-up movement to fight for change in their impoverished state. This movement is aligned to the Pakatan, which is the federal opposition and is tipped to have a better than even chance of wresting the federal government from Najib’s BN at the next election.

“On whether we expect more crossovers, my answer, of course, is yes,” said Anwar.

Sabahans know Project M was Mahathir’s baby, not Anwar’s

Even Maijol said as much during the rally, that Sabahans can forgive Anwar for bringing Umno into Sabah but not Mahathir and other henchmen for allowing the illegals to trample over the rights of the locals.

Reflecting the view of many Sabahaans, Maijol credited Anwar for bringing political change to Malaysia. He said that while during the 2008 general election, the wind of change had bypassed Sabah, it would not do so in the next general election widely expected to be held within the next few months.

“To me, all this happened and has continued to occur because of one factor and that factor is Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He has created a new spirit for change in Malaysia and these changes will lead to a new political system for the country – a two-party system and I support this,” Maijol told the rally.

Courting disaster

Najib courts disaster if he doesn’t mean what he says and is not saying what he means as far as the RCI goes because the Sabahans are dead serious over this issue. He will be dismissed for what he has so far turned out to be i.e. a fulltime professional bullshitter, for want of a better term. The state will turn in frustration to the Opposition and the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Sabahans will suspect the worst if the RCI goes through the sham of a Public Inquiry.

There’s no need for over-emphasis on a Public Inquiry since nothing can come out of it except piecemeal solutions which will simply increase the political frustration level in Sabah.

Instead, what’s needed is for the Home Minister to take the cue from the Prime Minister and direct the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) and Election Commission (EC) in Sabah and Putrajaya to allow the RCI to access their respective data banks.

Too many things can go wrong in ‘blood-thirsty’ Sabah

Too many things can go wrong in Sabah especially when the people in the state are baying for blood.

For example, it will come as “the mother of all shocks” if the Federal Government claims via the RCI that most of the foreigners given out “citizenships” in Sabah are in fact stateless people and therefore “there’s no problem” This would be politically unacceptable. No foreigner in Sabah can be given citizenship without the prior recommendation of the state government as the initiating party on a case-by-case basis. If the federal Government by-passes the state government, the people affected would not be considered Sabahans but Peninsular Malaysians subject to the Immigration Act unless they acquire permanent residence which would be politically impossible to grant. The lack of permanent residence status however would not prevent such people from voting in the state.

Forensic ICT experts will be needed to help the RCI to determine and weed out all JPN MyKads which are a nullity in law from the very beginning. The RCI’s 8-Point Terms of Reference may be vague on such help.

The 1st Generation of the MyKads held by those ineligible to hold them is those which don’t carry any details on the parents of the holders but yet have been issued the document under the category of operation of law which doesn’t require the actual physical possession of a citizenship certificate. The application for such MyKads would have been facilitated by a false Statutory Declaration (SD) giving Sabah as the place of birth. The SD would have been followed by a late registration of birth certificate to be used to apply for the MyKad.

One problem is that many holders of such documents may have moved to Peninsular Malaysia, even back to their home countries or passed away.

In that case, the passage of time would have worked in favour of the JPN to cover its tracks. However, the infamous cases of Salman Majid and Majid Kani in Court – Google it – are something that the JPN cannot explain to the RCI. Salman’s lawyer, Karpal Singh, and Majid’s lawyer, P. J. Perira, can be subpoened by the RCI.

The constant change of ICs in Malaysia from Blue to Bunga Raya to MyKad and the latest smart MyKad has played further havoc with the date base and has reportedly allowed the JPN to conceal its tracks from yesteryears.

Still, the information on the 1st Generation of illegal MyKad holders should be available on the JPN database unless it had deleted such information citing the passing on of the holders or their return to their home countries or leaving the state.

The children and grandchildren of the 1st Generation of MyKad holders cannot be exposed as ineligible and weeded out unless the information on the latter (1st Generation) is available. The data base on the 2nd Generation of ineligible MyKad holders is likely to show that everything was above board, indicating parents’ details.

From then on, the cause is lost for the people of Sabah especially the Orang Asal.

In the absence of the required data at JPN, the Immigration Department may be able to provide the back-up date to piece together the picture on the 1st Generation of ineligible MyKad holders.

Much of the problem, according to the grapevine, is in Putrajaya where a secret unit under the direction of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stepped up the issuance of Malaysian personal documents to illegal immigrants in Sabah in contravention of the Federal Constitution. The suspicion is that the secret unit was initiated during the administrations of Mahathir’s predecessors but it’s known whether the problem goes back as far as 1963.

Widespread suspicion that electoral rolls have been tainted

Equally worrying for Sabahans is the suspicion that details from such documentation entered the electoral rolls in the state to tip the odds against the Orang Asal in particular and keep Chinese seats at a bare minimum.

Further compounding the problem of MyKads which are a nullity in law from the very beginning is that its holders apparently, as stated, had the tendency to keep moving to Peninsular Malaysia or return home. The result, according to the grapevine, was that the secret unit was forced to continue its operations and even step it up from time to time – operating even from jungle hideouts — to ensure that replacement voters entered the electoral rolls.

It was the JPN which, among others, refused to co-operate with the Federal Cabinet Committee on MyKads headed by Bernard Giluk Dompok during Mahathir’s premiership. It was rumoured then that the JPN and other departments were acting on Mahathir’s directive. Dompok promptly resigned his chairmanship when he discovered Mahathir’s double game.

Najib’s RCI, which Mahathir has delayed for so long while he fought a rearguard action tooth-and-nail to kill the idea, has brought the MyKad problem in Sabah full circle to where Dompok left off with very little accomplishment. If Najib has ignored Mahathir’s objections, it’s because he’s fighting for his political life in Sabah, an electoral Fixed Deposit state for him along with Sarawak. If Sabahans unite, they can beat the illegal immigrants allegedly on the electoral rolls.

Mahathir’s statement a red herring designed to mislead RCI

Mahathir’s recent statement that illegal immigrants in Sabah who have stayed a very long time in the state and can speak Bahasa Malaysia are entitled to citizenship may be a red herring.

It’s not possible to issue citizenship certificates – naturalization for example – to illegal immigrants. If the illegals re-entered the state legally, it would be a different matter.

Again, they would not be able to qualify for citizenship by naturalization as a matter of right.

They would need to hold an Entry Permit from the Immigration Department, work permits, and run the gauntlet of clearance by the Special Branch, police clearance by their home countries, temporary residence MyKads, permanent resident MyKads, apply for naturalization, pass the Bahasa Malaysia test, collect their citizenship by naturalization certificate and produce this to obtain a MyKad issued to citizens.

Citizens by registration are the children of naturalized citizens born in Malaysia but they too, like their parents, would have to apply for a citizenship certificate, failing which they would considered citizens of the home countries of their parents and issued a permanent resident MyKad.

The EC, it’s said, has two kinds of voters on its electoral rolls i.e. the first whose MyKads, whether the holder is eligible to hold or ineligible, are listed in the JPN databank; and the second with MyKads which don’t exist in the JPN databank. The EC, the last time that it issued a statement on MyKads, admitted that it was not online with the JPN and was not in a position to check whether the MyKads of those on its electoral rolls are in the JPN databank.

Sabahans will bay for blood if the RCI turns out to be another dud

The EC doesn’t even remove the deceased on its electoral rolls unless a death certificate is presented to it. In the past, it had been alleged that the MyKads of the dead were being used to vote by phantom voters hired for the job from among illegal immigrants.

Uncollected MyKads, if not destroyed, can similarly be used by phantoms to vote.

The RCI can in fact begin its work by putting the cart-before-the-horse i.e. ensure that the EC is online to JPN to do a verification exercise of its electoral rolls.

It can also begin its work by persuading the Federal Government to offer a general amnesty to those holding MyKads to which they are not eligible under the Federal Constitution and those complicit in the commission of acts of treason.

If Sabahans get what they expect from the RCI i.e. leaner, meaner electoral rolls, among others, Najib can expect to win the state at the forthcoming 13th General Election which has to be held by April/May next year. But no one is holding their breath.

Needless to say, the GE has to be delayed until the work of the RCI has been completed in six months and subsequently translated into action and the electoral rolls cleaned up. But will it?

The fact is most Malaysians expect Najib to call for GE-13 before the conclusion of the RCI and the shit hits the fan. Irate Sabahans will surely bay for blood at having been made fools of yet again by the BN federal government.

Malaysia Chronicle

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Najib can still win *IF* Najib implements the 3 items below immediately with that mandate BN has :

;anytime Najib confirms the above 3 items BN will win, or else PR will step on BN, if not 3rd Force . . . which may not step on both BN (apartheid and corruption) and PR (nepotism and 90% failed campaign promises) but still take over the Dewan . . . Proposed 3rd Force Party below :

It is not about the government, it is about us – Monday, 13 August 2012 Super Admin Raja Petra Kamarudin

So we end up with a better government. And we achieve this by voting in a new government. Then what? Has society changed? Do we now live in a better society? We may now have a progressive government. But do we also now have a progressive society or are Malaysians all still backward thinking and narrow-minded and feel that apostates should be put to death and gays should be sent to jail?

Chua exposes another spin by DAP to sow hatred

(The Star) – Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has exposed yet another DAP political spin aimed at sowing hatred among Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak and their peninsula counterparts.

A Facebook posting had the MCA president’s photograph with him supposedly saying “Sabah and Sarawak cannot compete with the peninsula”.

Next to it was a picture of Olympic bronze medallist Pandelela Rinong Pamg.

Dr Chua stressed that what he had actually said was “while MCA supports the awarding of scholarships based on meritocracy, we also support the Government’s efforts to help the socially and economically disadvantaged groups in Sabah and Sarawak”.

“What I had said is we cannot expect the people of Sarawak and Sabah to be able to compete with the people in, say, the Klang Valley.”

“The reason is that, education facilities in many places in Sabah and Sarawak are still below par as compared to those in the Klang Valley,” he said after opening the Sabah MCA convention here yesterday.

He accused DAP of being unethical and misleading, adding that it was typical of the Opposition.

Dr Chua said political parties, despite their differences, should pursue the policy that “we are one Malaysia”.

“Sabahans and Sarawakians should realise that MCA will always support any special assistance for them,” he said.

*******************************************

There are two ways to get people to support you. One would be to get them to love you. The other would be to get them to hate the other person.

Getting people to love you is harder. Getting them to hate the other person is easier. Hence a hate campaign has a better chance of success than a love campaign.

Religionists do this all the time. And they have been doing it for thousands of years. I have read articles on anti-Islam sites that raise all sorts of negative issues about Prophet Muhammad, Islam, Muslims, Islamic countries and so on. Basically, it is a campaign to sow hate and to turn people into Islam-Muslim haters.

And the Muslims are not innocent either in their anti-Christian/anti-Jew campaigns.

Do you know that many Malays, meaning Muslims, cheered when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait? What is the rational in celebrating one Muslim country invading another Muslim country? Well, the rational, if you can rationalise an invasion, is as follows:

Kuwait and the many other small sheikhdoms and emirates were all once part of the great Islamic Ottoman Empire. Then, soon after the First World War, the evil Christian colonial empires from the west broke up the great Islamic Empire into smaller nations. Basically, this move was aimed at weakening Islam. Since then, the Islamic countries have been brought under the control of the Christian imperialists and all those ‘new’ nations are lackeys of the west.

And for that reason the Malays or Malaysian Muslims rejoiced when Saddam invaded Kuwait and they were very disappointed when Iraq lost the war.

The same happened during 911. Muslims all over the world danced in the streets when the New York Twin Towers was brought down. Osama Bin Ladin T-shirts were selling like hot cakes, even in Chow Kit Road in Kuala Lumpur. Even some PAS supporters were using those T-shirts during the election campaigns.

The fact that, out of about 3,000 people killed in that attack, there were around 60-70 Muslims amongst the victims seems to have escaped these people. And this did not include the 19 or so hijackers, who were also Muslims.

Hate, therefore, can cloud rational thinking. And if you can sow enough hate people are able to celebrate the killing of innocent people, even if those murdered are women and children.

In Malaysia, politics is played the same way. You have to make the voters hate the other side to get them to vote for you. Hence race and religion need to be played to the hilt because there is nothing more potent than race and religion, and a combination of both makes it a very explosive concoction indeed.

So, Barisan Nasional raises all sorts of issues against the opposition leaders while Pakatan Rakyat does the same regarding the Barisan Nasional leaders. It is no longer about policies, good governance, sustainable development, protecting the environment, ensuring that the young are prepared to face a most competitive future in a globalised and borderless world, improving the quality of life, respecting fundamental liberties, breeding a civil society, etc.

Many regard these issues as idealism. This is not the time to be idealistic. They say we need to be realistic. And the realistic thing would be we would not be able to change anything unless we first kick out the political party in power and replace it with another political party.

When I say I do not agree with this argument there would be many who will foam at the mouth and accuse me of saying that I am asking them not to vote for Pakatan Rakyat but to keep Barisan Nasional in power instead.

What has this got to do with Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat? I am not talking about the elections. I am not talking about changing Prime Ministers. I am talking about reforms, and the reform I specifically have in mind is regarding reforming the thinking of Malaysians. It is no use changing governments or even abolishing the Constitutional Monarchy and turning Malaysia into a Republic if we ourselves have not reformed.

Let’s not talk about a revolution, which is what we are talking about here — a revolution through the ballot box. What good is changing the government (which is what you are talking about) if we have not changed our mentality (which is what I am talking about)?

We must first decide what type of society we want to live in. The government we choose is merely the implementers of our aspirations. They are our trustees and nominees that we send to Parliament or the State Assemblies. But do we, in the first place, have any aspirations?

There are many unresolved issues that will remain unresolved even if we change the government. And the new government cannot resolve these unresolved issues because society itself has not changed its mindset.

Okay, maybe I need to run through a few examples to help you grasp the point I am trying to make. One example would be the status of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Is this community welcome in Malaysia? Are Malaysians ready to respect the right of every citizen to live the life of his or her choice?

What about civil partnership? Can Malaysians accept two people living together as civil partners and accord them the same rights as a married couple, even if they are same-sex civil partners?

Are Malaysians ready to discard discrimination based on race, religion and gender and allow full meritocracy to prevail, even to the extent of accepting a non-Malay-non-Muslim Prime Minister?

Are Malaysians, especially Muslims, prepared to allow absolute freedom of religion, which will include the freedom not to have any religion or to embrace atheism?

This is merely the tip of the iceberg and there are so many other issues that are preventing the country from moving forward.

Can ‘grass’ be legalised? After all, you can still get it easily enough and by outlawing it you are just making the underground syndicate extremely rich — like what happened during the Prohibition in America when by banning liquor it just allowed the gangsters to make money.

Can prostitution be legalised? You can find prostitutes on every street corner in Malaysia, even in Kota Baru, and by making it illegal, it not only helps the underworld make tons of money but it turns the Malaysian police force into a very corrupted organisation.

And the same goes for gambling and money lending. In the UK, the underworld can’t make money from gambling and money lending because it is not illegal, and neither is prostitution or grass (as long as it is for personal use and you are not trafficking).

The real problem is not the political parties. What they want is merely to get into power. The problem is whether we know what we want. And I know you are going to reply: we want an end to abuse of power and corruption.

But is this all we want? It is a good start, I know. But a corrupt-free government is about the government. That is not about us. I am asking: what does society want? What kind of society do we want to live in, not what type of government do we want?

So we end up with a better government. And we achieve this by voting in a new government. Then what? Has society changed? Do we now live in a better society? We may now have a progressive government. But do we also now have a progressive society or are Malaysians all still backward thinking and narrow-minded and feel that apostates should be put to death and gays should be sent to jail?

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As good a backtrack and withdrawal if not pointed enough in reference to the earlier offending articles. This shows at least some Malaysians are up to par where ‘Freedom of Humanity ‘ is concerned. At least someone had the iron clad guts to digest AND smarts to reconcile what some of us write! How about one more article on :

;after which return to Malaysia to try for PM (2 TERMS ONLY!) and displace the nepotism and clique paradigm running in our supposed ‘saviours’ in Pakatan?

Lead 3rd force with Tunku Aziz and any would be reformists ready to ditch BN’s racists and lapsdogs. These guys have the ethos (well fractured as is), so how about using the logos of the above and destroying the pathos of hegelian dialectic and backwardness of Malaysians, where colluding governments and term limitless oligarchs and nepotists, also plutocrats, are identified as bad for country and removed? With the above 3 items as raison d’etre, the next PM and any assenting MPs will be the true father of modern Malaysia, is that not worth a shot given the free time and wealth and networks put to no good use as of now that some of us have? . . .

BOTH BN and PR . . . GTFO of Dewan! 3rd Force is best!

Hence, seperation of state and religion (to prevent Theocracy), state and military (to prevent Junta), state and police (to prevent Nazi-like SS State) and state and term limitless politicians (to prevent Oligarchy-Feudalism-Term limitless Nepotism) is needed.

***Commentator Comments

…
written by panca, August 13, 2012 21:15:33
Pete, I think you ve got me wrong here. What I was saying is how are we supposed to change from a constitution that is far from freedom of choice which isn’t conducive nor democratic that I prefer not than to one that encompasses individual rights which do not hate other individual different from another individual’s preference! Therefore my point how can we have this freedom as it sounds that it boils down to us, the people and not the govt as you put it while it could not simply be us when we are not the law-makers to amend the constitution except them!

I did not promote hate, not in any instance about the rights of individual and I stand corrected that the parliament consists of MP or Monkey playing to the gallery of Race, Religion and Royalty!

…
written by Admiral Tojo, August 13, 2012 20:53:58
You know Pete, I am totally at peace with LBGT, freedom of Belief, The differences in our colors and languages, cultures, food and what have you. Then again my mind was set free by the Quran, which is categorically against those who defy commonsense and religions. I am afraid that most Malaysians, including those so called learned ones, are slaves of their minds, pagans (unsophisticated), put there by their self appointed GOD representatives. They are still unable to totally obliterate the reference BOX that they have. They are incapable of thinking WITHOUT a box. All we can do is keep on trying to free these SLAVES.

Shalom

…
written by jacko2012, August 13, 2012 20:51:46
Please have some patience. People’s mindset will not be able to change overnight but government can. Many aunties uncles still living in the fear of 513. That doesn’t change overnight.
For more than 50 years, Rakyat is living in the concept of TOP-DOWN approach. TOP being the government and DOWN being to Rakyat. The information is being feed from the TOP to DOWN. Other words, Government talk and Rakyat have to listen.

With the new government and perhaps with loosen press act, people able to access to unbiased main stream media, people able to be much more vocal without fearing of ISA. When there’s too much noise from the BOTTOM, the government have to listen. That’s when Rakyat kick off BOTTUP-UP approach.
When the perception change, mindset change. It just takes some time.

…
written by loh333, August 13, 2012 20:24:50
The government molds the thinking of the people. Article 153 was supposed to make Malays competitive. But the government made NEP short-cut to wealth for the people in power, or connected to those in power. Corruption is rampant and politics is now the most rewarding occupation. UMNO has perfected government functions to enrich the leaders. There will be no change to their method of operation. A new government gives hope.

…
written by tom73my, August 13, 2012 20:17:18
Admittedly not many Malaysians have first class mentality like RPK who is now more British than Malaysian. But that’s not my point today.

My point is, changing the government is part of the process of changing the mindset of the people. Changing the gov is the first step towards the change of mindset, which is the goal, the end game. If we keep getting rid of the more corrupt, over a period of time, we will have a clean gov. It’s the natural process of elimination of the weakest. As the gov gets cleaner, they will provide better leadership, better policies towards achieving first class mentality of the people. Don’t believe me? Just think what Biro Tatanegara has done to Malaysia.

…
written by Veritas Aequitas, August 13, 2012 18:59:06
If one were to do a survey of hate and anti-religion sites against the following;
1. Islam
2. Christianity
3. Judaism
4. Hinduism
5. Buddhism
6. Taoism
7. Janism
8. Zoroastrianism

One can be confident 95% of hate sites are against religions 1 to 3. These sites are associated with the secular community, ex-believers or between themselves.
The condemnation of the other religions 4-8, are mostly from Christian or Islamic sites.

Why are the religions 1-3 hated so significantly in contrast to the the religions of 4 to 6?
I think the answers to the root causes can be found within those religions themselves. But due to cognitive bias, they will never look inward to see their own faults.

As for progress, there must be real changes in brain neuron connectivities and more activation in the higher human brain. Using PC as an analogy, the majority of humans brains are operating like the IBM XT-5160 @4.77 MHz. The majority of human brains are being more primate than being human. To facilitate progress we must expedite to increase the power of human consciousness via greater brain connectivities.

..
written by katak, August 13, 2012 18:48:11
Policies and laws are set by the government-of-the-day. A progressive government tends to set progressive policies and laws. Such progressive laws and policies will enable a more progressive learning environment and a more progressive education. A progressive education can lead to a progressive mindset and thus resulting in a progressive society.

This is what we want our society to be. So, for the first step, BN/UMNO has to be kicked out.

…
written by Orang utan, August 13, 2012 18:32:58
We are talking about super structures – individual and societal mindset, education, religion, politics. All of these are buggered – selfishness and divisiveness largely brought about by narrow minded parenting and selective interaction with fellow countrymen; lack of lateral thinking, prejudicial and opportunistic deeds brought about by inept and tampered education, selfishness and mental corruption brought about by individual’s personal interest and mindless media (including international). What do we have here? A society with stunted mental growth exacerbated by religious doctrines and mumbo jambo politics.

It would take years, decades even for the country’s mental state to be liberalised and key to this is originality and creativity but mindful of reason and decency. Science is allowed to be taught and practised freely, religion stay out of this.

Malaysians have long questioned the wisdom of having to renew driving licence every year, and wary of this, PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan today proposed that driving licence be issued for life.

According to Nasrudin, Pakatan Rakyat could mull this proposal if it assumes Federal power at the next general election.

“I propose that if Pakatan Rakyat rules, just issue a permanent driving license without the need to renew,” he remarked on his Twitter.

Nasrudin said renewal of driving license was another of a long list of costs that burdened the public.

When contacted by Harakahdaily on how the plan could be realised, Nasrudin said a frequent traffic offender could be denied life-long licence and be made to renew it periodically.

One way to do this is by issuing different colours of driving licences where bearers would have to renew periodically until “they behave for certain period of time”.

Saying the mechanism need to be further detailed, he stressed that the main focus should be to reduce people’s burden.

“Every year, we pay road tax and car insurance. When there is a summons, we can’t renew the road tax and will be suspended and the vehicle cannot be used.

“This makes renewing driving license redundant… So long as the driver behaves, the licence should not expire,” he explained.

-Harakahdaily

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Hey there PAS, purloining ideas? But since I do not have an official political platform or MP’s seat to claim credit by, I won’t waste time fighting about something so useful. Remember voters, this was initiated/inspired by moi’s posting/comment, not PAS’s ingenuity . . .

(The Star) – Ex-Sepang DAP parliamentary liaison committee member Tan Tuan Tat, who was accused of forging 149 membership forms, has produced two former party supporters to back him up.

Mahful Wahid said he had collected membership forms from some 100 people in Kampung Teluk Manggis and Taman Kedidi as they were interested in becoming DAP members.

“I approached Tan for help to submit the forms to Selangor DAP. Why was he accused of forgery?” he said, adding that he, too, had been interested in joining DAP.

Such accusations, added Mahful, had caused him to lose confidence in Pakatan Rakyat.

DAP disciplinary committee chairman Tan Kok Wai said that Tuan Tat, who had been in the party for 18 years, had been charged with forging the membership forms to set up three pro tem branches in Sungai Pelek, Sepang.

He also claimed that the MyKad of people from Sungai Pelek were used without their knowledge to enrol them as DAP members.

Former Pantai Sepang Putra DAP chief R. Veerasamy echoed Mahful’s views, saying that he had also approached Tuan Tat for help to forward the forms to the state DAP’s office.

“In the end, I was found guilty of falsifying the applications and sacked,” he said during a press conference here yesterday.

Denying the accusations, Tuan Tat said it was meant to slander his integrity and credibility.

“Don’t defame me. I did not forge any forms.

“The forms were genuine and came from people who wanted to join DAP,” he said.

Tuan Tat, who used to be Taman Sri Sungai Pelek branch chairman before leaving the party last week, said DAP had deviated from its original spirit and essence.

(Bernama) – A study on retirement trends in East Asia has revealed the increasing vulnerability of Malaysians due to early retirement age as well as low rates of pension receipt under the Employees’ Provident Fund and the lack of old-age poverty floor.

The study report, “Balancing Tradition and Modernity: The Future of Retirement in East Asia”, is based on a survey that the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conducted in Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, according to Prudential in a statement on the survey findings.

The CSIS East Asia Retirement Survey reveals that an astonishing 92 per cent of current retirees in Malaysia report that they had already left the workforce by age 60 and suggests that Malaysia’s pattern of premature retirement will likely persist. Malaysia is the only country in the survey whose fertility rate is above the 2.1 replacement level and the only one that will have a growing population and workforce in the coming decades, the report said.

“In China, the elderly share of the population will be approaching 30 per cent by 2040 -– and in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan it will be approaching 40 per cent. In Malaysia, it will still be under 20 per cent,” it said.

Malaysia’s early mandatory retirement age, however, offsets its demographic advantage in building an adequate and sustainable retirement system, it added.

Co-authored by Richard Jackson and Neil Howe, it is part of the multilayer Global Ageing Preparedness Project, which was launched by CSIS and British insurance giant Prudential plc in 2010.

The survey found four out of five of today’s retirees in Malaysia worry about “being poor and in need of money,” becoming “a burden on their children,” and being “in ill health and having no one to care for them” – much larger shares than in any of the other survey countries.

Their vulnerability is attributable to Malaysia’s unusually early retirement ages, which leaves retirees at risk of outliving their savings, as well as to low rates of pension receipt under the EPF and to the lack of an age-old poverty floor, the survey said.

Retirement prospects are improving for the younger generations, who expect to be less dependent on the extended family than today’s retirees are and to rely more heavily on their own savings, it said.

But with one in five current workers still expecting to receive no pension benefits of any kind, the outlook for many is far from secure, it added. Donald Kanak, Chairman of Prudential Corporation Asia, which is part of Prudential plc, said: “Responding to the challenges caused by an ageing population is critical to Asia’s future.

“It is critical that policy makers and the industry work together to address this vital question.” Charlie Oropeza, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd, said: “The findings of the CSIS Study reinforce the need for Malaysians to better plan and secure their financial position towards retirement.

“While the policymakers as well as the Malaysian Government have been introducing frameworks such as the Financial Blueprint to provide greater length and breadth of financial products and services, Malaysians need to be more aware and make themselves financially ready through prudent investment decisions.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Vote moi or anyother who intend that wealth limit of 20 million and land distribution thing, for MP and ensure EVERYONE has an equal share of Malaysia, not makes shares smaller by giving out illegal citizenships. Meanwhile grant :

;we’ll send the plutocrats packing with some useless fiat ‘compensation’ (lots of zeros on useless banana scrip for their land and properties) to plague other nations with ‘Wealth Sequestration’, meanwhile Malaysia becomes that much richer because of fewer citizens. Think citizens! We are going to set a precedent for human civilisation and economics by removing plutocrats and basing wealth on population number to land size ratios instead!

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted.

(FMT) – Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat insists there is no reason to defer implementing Hudud laws in this country.

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted.

“For me there is no principle of law and on the basis of logic needs to hang about the implementation of Hudud is partly kerana than sharia law mandated in Islam.

“It kerana no law or legislation in the world, just under the democratic system Want even communist ideology waiting folk and agreed first, and implemented.

“On his deep, what other features the laws in Malaysia, he created and implemented without waiting for all parties to understand or agree.

“Termasuklah Pertubuhan the United Nations itself was a menguatkuasakan formation of the state of Israel in Palestine opposed the earth by the great Palestinian people themselves.

“Hatta U.S. President Barack Obama participated agree with the regulations ‘similar kahwin’ though majoriti the world reject it,” he said in a reality today.

Choppy seas

Add Mursyidul Am PAS, legal issues may be something there Kefahaman and are implemented after the approval of all parties, he was something not right in kaedah legislation to oversee and educate people towards goodness.

Moreover, the issue of Islamic law (Hudud) instead of the option to refuse or accept the human family. The task of the authorities in the name of Islam is kewajipan and responsibility. Thus the need for a conducive atmosphere is not a barrier to the implementation of the law of God.

He said, until when was any reason without faith and reasonable argument was always an excuse to rescind the acceptance and implementation of Allah’s law?

What is certain, the law of Allah SWT still in harmony with natural laws and His creatures.

“Even if waiting for the sound waves subside, until when the fishermen will be out to sea? When it’s choppy seas, fishing boat may be rolled into the sea to catch fish, “said Nik Aziz.

In fact, he said, the effort has been dimulakan since the 90’s anymore when Enakmen Jenayah Kelantan Syariah II 1993 and Enakmen Jenayah Terengganu Syariah-2003 was introduced in both the two country.

Before that again he said, they have introduced draft legislation that the NGO Islam and non-Muslims and has raised the suggestion that the issue of hudud perlaksanaan dealt in parlimen.

“PAS hudud positively received and hudud is kewajipan Muslims.

“We will continue langsungkannya through democratic space,” he told the media after the hearing mempengerusikan Mesyuarat Political Bureau and Options Kingdom Supreme official PAS in parti it this afternoon.

Asked since Pengerusi DAP Carpal Singh issued a fact that often oppose hudud perlaksanaan, PAS president said It is not something that is complicated for PAS.

“The issue is not complicated Carpal opponent. Therefore Allah revealed Surah Al-Maidah which Jews and infidels are not in favor of Islam and Allah sent down the verse.

“What we are opposed to the severity of UMNO. Fact take steps to insulate,” he said.

He helped give a sample letter that dihantar warnings from the center to the Kelantan royal Want an expressed desire to implement hudud in the country.

In fact, he said Umno able to ration foreign kempen not to come whitewash this country will kerana hudud laws are implemented.

“Even if PAS is no power (to rule) now sorts Umno, PAS will not shut up Anybody who scolds son including royal accomplices,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted. – BUT Nik Aziz forgets that Hudud does not exist in Islam at all and also forgets the minority Muslims who do not want to be affected by Hudud. Hegelian dialectic!

Using democratic methods of implementing undemocratic laws that will affect minorities is a sign of authoritarianism. Must be terrible being a Muslim when such dichotomies and oxymorons in the use of the word ‘democracy’ exist. If a minority of Muslims did not want Hudud, a TRUE DEMOCRACY will cater for them by allowing abstention clauses. This is undemocratic as hell . . . a shadowy hell . . .

…
written by Bernard, August 26, 2012 04:01:50
Nik Aziz has the right to push for the implementation of hudud laws for the Muslim. He has expressed clearly that the Non-Muslim are not affected. Karpal Singh has the right to oppose Hudud laws for the Non Muslims. He should not oppose the Hudud laws for the Muslim. Both have to agree to disagree on this issue. – I am most concerned about the rights of minorities. As of now Muslims cannot be apostate without becoming 2nd class citizens. Does hudud not compound the current issue without imposing hudud as well?
…
written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 16:28:11
A nightmare indeed! They dont need 2/3 vote to change the constitution. If PR in power everthing is possible.

Let the Mad Mullah and the Idol worshipper fight each other…
“Our knowledge of the historical worth of certain religious doctrines increases our respect for them, but does not invalidate our proposal that they should cease to be put forward as the reasons for the precepts of civilization. On the contrary! Those historical residues have helped us to view religious teachings, as it were, as neurotic relics, and we may now argue that the time has probably come, as it does in an analytic treatment, for replacing the effects of repression by the results of the rational operation of the intellect.”

If I were a non-Muslim, I would not get involved in the Hudud debate, knowing that the Malays-Muslims themselves will never come to an agreement on the matter. Once I get involved, then we face the danger of the Malays who oppose Hudud agreeing with those who propose Hudud merely because they want to defend Islam from what they view as an attack by the non-Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When we apply two different approaches to a subject, invariably, we will not be able to reconcile the answer we seek. For example, seeking the answer to our existence would not give us the same result when one is guided by theology and the other applies sociology, anthropology, history and archaeology.

Why do we exist? Is it by accident or is it by design? And is our existence the ultimate purpose, which will end when we expire, or is it merely a temporary step to a final destination, which will be determined by how we live our life in this world?

Such a basic question but not one that can be answered that simply. The answer, invariably, will be determined by what ‘logic’ we apply. And is the logic we are applying really logical? How, in the first place, can we define logic when different yardsticks are being applied? And when should logic be discarded for a higher discipline, that of the word of God, which is above logic and requires faith?

No, it is not a simple puzzle to solve. Even the matter of freedom of expression falls victim to many different viewpoints. Is name-calling and labelling someone Keling Pariah, Mamak Tongkang or Cina Mata Sepet, exceeding the boundaries of freedom of expression and falls within the classification of racial slurs or is this what freedom of expression is all about?

Try calling a British of Pakistani origin a Paki here in Britain and see what will happen to you. Is not a British a Brit and an Australian an Aussie and an American a Yank? So what’s wrong with a Pakistani being called a Paki? It is not that a Pakistani is not a Paki but the fact that it has been ‘agreed’, by whom I do not know, that the word Paki is a racial slur.

And it is not just that society accepts the word Paki as a racial slur. It is also how you say it — the tone of your voice and the look on your face. A Malay is certainly a Melayu, there is no denying that. But it is how you use the word Melayu that counts. Using the ‘correct’ tone of voice and with the ‘right’ look on your face, the word Melayu can be turned into an insult.

So how do we resolve the matter of Hudud, the punishment for crimes under the Islamic laws known as the Sharia? Before that, can this matter even be resolved in the first place? Well, not if we apply two different yardsticks in arguing the case for or against Hudud. No issue can be resolved when two different yardsticks are applied and both are considered logical to the proponents as well as the opponents of Hudud.

A Pakistani is a Paki to a non-Pakistani but an insult to a Pakistani. Both are right. Yet both can never come to an agreement as to whether it was meant as an insult or not. Maybe it was a statement of fact. Maybe it was an insult. The only way to avoid the crosswire would be to call a Pakistani a Brit and leave it at that.

After all, Britons no longer exist anyway. Every Brit is a son or daughter of an immigrant. The only thing is did they migrate to Britain 100 B.C. or 2,000 years after that? Invariably, every Brit, if the roots are traced, came from somewhere outside Britain. That is the reality of the whole thing. At best, they can claim some British blood but can never lay claim to a thoroughbred Brit. Hence, the Pakistani is as British as the Royal Family or the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

When would we consider the cut-off date? If the year 100 were the cut-off date then the Italians would be Brits. If 300 were the cut-off date then the Scandinavians would be Brits. If 500 were the cut-off date then the Germans would be Brits. If 1100 were the cut-off date then the French would be Brits. If 1990 were the cut-off date then those from the Indian subcontinent would be Brits. If there is no cut-off date then everyone is a Brit. There are no Pakistanis in Britain, and hence no Pakis as well.

See how simple it is in Britain. Britain never saw independence because it never lost its independence. Britain was conquered by one power after another over more than 2,000 years and the conquerors became Brits, even when they spoke French and not a word of English. So everyone in Britain is a Brit and there are no pendatangs. If there are pendatangs, then every single person in Britain is a pendatang. It is as simple as that.

But in Malaysia it is more complicating. Malaysia never existed until 1963. From 1957 it existed as Malaya. Before that there was no Malaya. The British created Malaya. And in creating Malaya they also created Malays, who also never existed until the British created them. And the British declared that Malaya belonged to the Malays and everyone else is an immigrant.

But what is the cut-off date? The cut-off date is not clear. If the cut-off date were 1700 then the entire Selangor Royal Family would be pendatang. If the cut-off date were 31st August 1957 then only those born outside the country after that date would be pendatangs. Those born outside Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the country after 31st August 1957 would be Malaysians.

Nevertheless, the British had decided that Malaya would be given independence on 31st August 1957 and with independence we would receive a written Constitution, something that the British themselves do not have. And in this written Constitution it would be stated plus implied that the Malays own the land. And to reinforce this ownership, Islam would be the religion of the land, Malay would be the official language, and Malays would be accorded certain privileges.

This was the agreement, whether stated or implied. And it was an agreement that all the races in Peninsular Malaysia agreed to adopt. It was not unilateral. It was bilateral. Was this a mistake, especially on the part of the Chinese and the Indians? On hindsight it is always easy to talk. Everyone is an expert on hindsight. It is foresight that matters. Did the Chinese and Indians not have the foresight to see that an open-ended agreement with no expiry date would be binding to future generations of Chinese and Indians who would still be regarded as Chinese and Indians and ‘secondary’ Malayans?

And this is why we are currently facing a problem regarding Hudud. To Malaysians who are not Muslims, Hudud is viewed as a legal matter. It involves the punishment meted out for certain crimes. Hence Hudud needs to be discussed under the ambit of the legal system.

They are, of course, correct.

To Muslims, however, Hudud is not about the law. It is about what God has commanded. And God’s command is beyond discussion. It is about acceptance without argument. To reject God’s command is like the Catholics rejecting the Trinity or the Jews rejecting the Ten Commandments. It is a matter that cannot be compromised.

They are, of course, also correct — at least as far as each religious faith is concerned.

So both are correct, no one is wrong. So how do we resolve a situation where both are correct and no one is wrong but the ‘correctness’ of their views places them at odds?

As long as the Muslims in Malaysia believe that Islam is the religion of the land and hence whatever is mandatory in Islam becomes mandatory for the whole country then this is not a matter that will see a solution.

All other religions will be allowed, but Islam is the religion of the land, not the other religions. The Malays are masters of the land. Non-Malays will be allowed a place under the Malaysian sun but will be secondary to the Malays. This is what the British intended for independent Malaya. And the British made sure that this intention was clearly stated in a written Constitution.

Basically, we are faced with a belief system here, the belief that the Malays are the masters of the land and Islam is the religion of the land. And belief systems are not easy to eradicate. Can we convince the Christians that Jesus Christ was a mere man and not divine or the Son of God, hence the Trinity does not exist? Can we convince the Muslims that the Qur’an was not the word of God because it was compiled by a ‘committee’ years after the death of the Prophet and ‘strengthened’ by the Hadith, which was a creation of ‘spin-doctors’?

I fear that would be an impossible task. Both the Christians as well as the Muslims would never change their belief system just because you say so. Belief systems are carved in stone. And the belief that the Malays are masters of the land and Islam is the religion of the land is not a belief system that the Malays or Muslims will readily reject.

So what do we do about Hudud? What can we do about it? As long as the Malays believe that the Qur’an is God’s word and that Hudud is God’s command and that Islam is the religion of the land there is nothing we can do about it.

Can we resist or oppose Hudud? Well, can we resist or oppose the law that forbids Muslims from leaving Islam to become Christians, Hindus or Buddhists?

The only ‘good’ thing about the Hudud issue — if you were the eternal optimist who always tries to see good in everything, like the ‘blessing in disguise’ thing — is that Hudud has been reduced to a political issue. Hence, when it becomes a political issue, one side will oppose when the other side proposes. And this would mean that even amongst the Muslims the Hudud issue would never be resolved.

If I were a non-Muslim, I would not get involved in the Hudud debate, knowing that the Malays-Muslims themselves will never come to an agreement on the matter. Once I get involved, then we face the danger of the Malays who oppose Hudud agreeing with those who propose Hudud merely because they want to defend Islam from what they view as an attack by the non-Muslims.

Let me put it another way. When the Chinese are of the opinion that Chinese education is ‘under attack’, even the MCA and DAP people can sit at the same table under the umbrella of Chinese education to hammer out an issue of common interest. And this is what can happen when Hudud is viewed as ‘under attack’ — the Malays will share a common platform in the interest of ‘mempertahankan kedaulatan Islam’ (in defence of the sanctity of Islam).

So be careful with what you say. Calling a Pakistani a Paki may be kosher to you. The Pakistani, however, may view it as an insult and you can go to jail in Britain if you pass racial slurs. In that same spirit, labelling Hudud as barbaric and those who propagate it as stupid is certainly your right under freedom of expression. To the Muslim, however, that is an insult to God and freedom of expression does not include insulting God.

So what do we do then? Do we just shut up and accept the fact that we must lose certain freedom of expression? Or do we speak our mind whatever the consequences in the interest of freedom of expression?

Honestly, I really do not know. When two different sets of values are applied I am at a loss. My solution would be to just let the two sides argue and we see where the cards fall. Most likely they will continue to argue into the next generation without any resolution. In that case nothing will happen so we do not need to address anything.

Is this a solution? Maybe not! It is more like ignoring it and hoping it will go away. But that is how I sometimes handle the common cold and it does go away. Then, sometimes it may become pneumonia, who knows? But next month I will be 62 and I am still alive. So maybe I have not come out the worst for ignoring the common cold and just allowing it to run its course after all.

But, yes, I know, we all want to speak and say something. We do not want to allow the ‘other side’ to speak unchallenged. So we speak even when what we say is not going to achieve anything. And we will all scream and oppose or scream and defend Hudud when we know nothing is going to happen in the end. And we will find out that loose lips sink ships. But never mind if the ship sinks as long as we can talk while it sinks.

Such is the folly of mankind. And aren’t wars fought in defence of national pride and dignity when all that is merely another word for ego? And who am I to take away your right of free speech, never mind what is being said will see no light at the end of the tunnel? That, in the end, is what will prevail.

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written by Pollux, August 27, 2012 00:56:47
Ok RPK, we will not debate about hudud. We could, however, set one condition, which would be fair in light of this topic about yardsticks.
If hudud laws are to be implemented then it must coincide with the right to bear arms, without licences or permits just as it was back in the good old days. Then we will all be using the same yardstick and, if I may, mentality. Then everything will be back as it was in the medieval days. No right to bear arms, no hudud. Let’s all go back to the time when hudud came about and was first practiced. The right to bear arms was after all taken away by those colonialists Brits who needed to control the masses.

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written by Azman, August 26, 2012 23:47:14
Hudud law is Muhammad law ! Muhammad used Islam to get politic power ! Why Muslims have to suffer so much Islam law which effect their life, work and business ? Why non-Muslim no follow but Allah no punish them ? That mean Allah like non-Muslim more then Muslim ! Actually all human is equal only religious make human difference !

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written by azm, August 26, 2012 23:36:13

Lesley Hazleton (born 1945) is an award-winning British-American writer whose work focuses on the intersection of politics, religion, and history, especially in the Middle East. She reported from Israel for Time, and has written on the Middle East for numerous publications including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s, The Nation, and The New Republic.[1]

Hazleton was born in England, and became a United States citizen in 1994. She was based in Jerusalem from 1966 to 1979 and in New York City from 1979 to 1992, when she moved to her current home in Seattle WA, originally to get her pilot’s license. She has two degrees in psychology (B.A. Manchester University, M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem).[2]

She has described herself as “a Jew who once seriously considered becoming a rabbi, a former convent schoolgirl who daydreamed about being a nun, an agnostic with a deep sense of religious mystery though no affinity for organized religion”.[3] “Everything is paradox,” she has said. “The danger is one-dimensional thinking”.[4]

In April 2010, she began blogging as The Accidental Theologist,[5] focusing on religion, politics, and existence.[6] In September 2011, she received The Stranger’s Genius Award in Literature. [7]

She is currently working on a new biography of Muhammad,[8] to be published by Riverhead/Viking in spring 2013.

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written by Zaiton, August 26, 2012 23:29:08
PAS is a fanatic religious party ! If Malaysia rule by them sure will be like Afghanistan during Taliban rule ! If Allah help them sure they always won in election but they always defected ! Politic involve religious that will no fair to others faith !

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written by azm, August 26, 2012 23:11:06
these are not stated by muslims..

Despite all of the ills of Muslims everywhere, Islam continues to be the fastest growing religion on earth. Professor Huston Smith of the MIT in his book, “The Religions of Man” says, “In some areas where Islam and Christianity are competing for converts, Islam is gaining at a rate of 10 to 1.”

Ambassador Herman Ellis, in a testimony in front of the committee on Foreign Affirs of the House of Represntatives of the United States Congress on June 24th, 1985, said, “The Muslim community of the globe today is in the neighbourhood of one billion. That is an impressive figure. But what to me is equally impressive is that Islam today is the fastest growing monotheistic religion. This is something we have to take into account. Something is right about Islam. It is attracting a good many people.”

Many distinguised Western historians have attested this fact– foremost among whom is Sir Thomas W. Arnold in his book, “The Preaching of Islam”. Also there is Marshall G. Hodgson in his book, “The Venture of Islam”, Albert Hourani in his book, “A History of the Arab People”, Ira Lapidus in his book, “History of Islamic Societies”, L.S. Starorianos in his book, “A Global Hisotry, the Human Heritage” and many others

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written by JRA, August 26, 2012 22:32:48
The first thing we need to do when Hudud is implemented in Malaysia is to ‘potong the Lan Chiao’ of these kurang ajar chinaman making all these kurang ajar comments here!

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written by miya, August 26, 2012 20:55:28
same old issue every time
long long way to Putrajaya smilies/sad.gif

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written by Wan Kembang, August 26, 2012 19:37:54
I feel really angry when Karpal oppose hudud, in which I think he did in a very rude way and disrespecting majority of muslim… but even though I am a Muslim I dont see this as a very big issues for PR as a promising political coalition (but a bit suprised with the reaction from non-Muslim). Honestly if happened I have to vote in Karpal constituency, I definitely vote him even against UMNO-BN Malay Muslim candidate, as UMNO-BN is too rotten to be choose!

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written by Morris, August 26, 2012 19:07:28
It’s a waste of time debating Hudud. All Malays – ians are against it as i see it. from my point of view, they knew that most of the criminals are Malays -ians and I don’t think they like that laws to be used against them. What is most appropriate is, the existing laws should be done without fear or favour.

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written by Alice, August 26, 2012 17:52:28
We should stand up for truth and justice as universal values .Leave religion out of everything. Religion is personal . Hudud I totally oppose. We have enough headache already and confuse us with more religious stuff. Show us your religion through your actions . Show us Islamic countries living happily ever after with hudud laws. After all it will be men who will implement these laws if passed . History has shown us that man has always failed to be just and fair. Look at our own judiciary and the pathetic state it is in.

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written by anakipoh, August 26, 2012 16:36:36
bumi non malay, please just comment on the issue of PAS trying to implement hudud. The moment you skew off tracks and started criticising islam, like calling it flawed, you earn the wrath of all muslims alike, whether those who oppose and those who propose. This is what RPK is trying to warn that non muslims should stay out of this. If you must say something, direct it to the people that are flawed, not the religion itself.

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written by bumi non malay, August 26, 2012 14:54:11
….meanwhile apparently a down syndrome girl is facing death in Pakistan for burning Koran and his brother apparent mutilated….. First because they are christian, 2nd its Islam Great justice systems, 3rd no wonder the Brits hates the “pakis”…..whoops Pakistani.

Bring on hudud…and make sure Hudud can be back tracked to just after Merdeka 1957……. If the punishment is chopping hands for corruption……then please make sure the Defender of islam is Kosher with that…… How many have accepted money for Datuk??…. Off with the Defender of Islam hands… But what if Defender of islam convert to another religion to escape this punishment? Can hudud and melayu terima this??…will they then foam like the Pakistani over a burnt Koran?? There lies the flaw and credibility of Islam!!

In the Anti-Hudud camp = DAP, MCA, MIC, Gerakan and scores of other party (inc those from East Malaysia) – 82 MPs

In the “I am not sure” camp = UMNO and PKR (110 MPs)

Even PAS + UMNO + PKR MPs were to say aye to Hudud = 140, we are still short of the 2/3 to amend the constitution. And we know that even UMNO and PKR is still undecided about Hudud.

Great, now in the PRU-13, let the people decide by their vote.

At this moment with the political make up, Hudud is a non starter. It is a perrenial red herring.

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written by Siudi, August 26, 2012 12:18:11
It still seems that Malaysians are more united under DUIT, not Hudud or whatsoever. Just look at BN, they still stick to each other under CRONYISM. Meanwhile DAP and PAS are still at each other necks over Hudud. So I guess the 2013 election will be just like 2004 all over again

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written by chinois, August 26, 2012 08:57:38
Muslims have been in disagreement with one another for ages. Muslims have been killing one another for ages. I say let muslims settle their problems themselves, if ever. Even if the intention of the non-muslims is to try to talk sense into muslims, it gets perceived as an attack on muslims and Islam. How to help the muslims like that? They don’t want to be helped, they don’t want to listen, they don’t want to be a part of modern society. Better just shut up till they’ve exhausted themselves then say “I told you so”. It’s sad really, but there is just nothing that can be done, by muslims no less what more non-muslims.

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+26
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vote up

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written by Jamie, August 26, 2012 08:42:44
Our political parties are in a state of deep slumber.

Instead of focusing on pressing issues, day in day out they keep harping on trivial issues like this Hudud lah, tokongs lah, blah blah blah.

What are their ideas on overcoming or at least insulating us the rakyat, from the effects of the financial crises? Banks rigging LIBOR rates, a 50 to 1 ratio of derivatives liability, a great whirlpool waiting to turn into a black hole. What has PAS proposed to do? Or is it that Hudud will miraculously save us?

What have they done about Syria and Iran? Western powers are hell bent on turning these countries into living hells and what has Malaysia done to help these people?

Eco crises – so what is the stand on Fukushima? Does anyone realize that Fukushima has been spewing out radiation that has reached the US West Coast? Think Malaysia will not be part of the fallout? Where are the contingency plans?

Freedom of speech – Our freedom of speech is under attack everywhere in the world. UK threatening to storm an embassy for granting asylum to Julian Assange, Brandon Raub sent to a mental hospital for questioning the events of 9/11, Quebec banning student protests (that’s more draconian than 42smilies/cool.gif, Evidence Act 114A, ISA in Singapore, ad nauseum. So is PAS joining the anti-free speech crowd too?

Just a few things mentioned above already shows our world is in a state of deep crisis. But for PAS and sundry to do all these kind of clownish antics, deeply convinces me that they are not concerned about Malaysia’s future, they only care about living in their own shell which will be blast open by external forces eventually. As one famous person says, by their fruits you will know them. You say left and right that you will go to heaven. Sorry, you want to rush headlong into destruction go ahead, I’m going to do what’s right.

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written by Admiral Shin, August 26, 2012 07:17:34
Well, YM, I have never whacked Islam/ Hudud per se. I have written against Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and other religious bigots in the past.
I know many comments about Islam and hudud are unwarranted; I call upon other MT readers to desist. However, sometimes what you have written begs ” tongue in cheek ” replies!smilies/wink.gif

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 07:11:20
“Pro-arte, I asked you about the crimes of rebellion, murder and robbery and you talk about rape. Apalah ni. Benci Islam sangat-sangat sampai dah sasul terlajak! ”

The pertinent issue was about whether women can be witnesses in Hudud. The simple answer is No.

You may have a different understanding of Hudud or Islam for that matter, but the pertinent issue is what PAS concept of Hudud is.

Can you categorically state that the PAS Hudud bills allow women to be witnesses, yes or no?

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:47:10
Admiral Shin, when I whack Pakatan regarding many issues, the disunity issue being one of them, you all whack me and allege that I have been bought off. Why are you anti-Hudud/anti-Islam wankers making so much noise? For the sake of Pakatan, for the sake of kicking Umno out, for the sake of making sure that Anwar becomes the next Prime Minister, why don’t you all shut the fuck up? Have you all been bought or what? Are you all trying to sabotage Pakatan? HIDUP HUDUD!

I’m just loving this ‘I told you so’. I hope PAS and DAP choke on Hudud. Then let’s see what you all have to say after that.

RPK

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written by Gift4ever, August 26, 2012 06:20:29
Religion & race is a piss off thingy. Malaysia must not classify a person according to religion and race. When you fill any form there must not be a question on religion and race.
I am no longer in Malaysia, here in Australia not once I have to fill my religion or race on any form. In fact when you ask an Aussie what is your race? The answer will be “Eh?” They thought you are talking about 100 meter race.
My eyes maybe sloppy and skin a bit yellow but who cares when my wallet is bigger than yours.

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:19:39
Supercally, yeap, and a good political strategy, don’t you think so? And you wankers are falling for it on top of that. Brilliant! That’s why we have to take our hat off to Umno. They are so clever to get you all to foam at the mouth while they steal the election.

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:15:53
Pro-arte, I asked you about the crimes of rebellion, murder and robbery and you talk about rape. Apalah ni. Benci Islam sangat-sangat sampai dah sasul terlajak!

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:12:12
Lord Jim, actually the only hope for BN in the next election is for the Malays to not vote Chinese DAP and for the Chinese to not vote PAS Malay. I think this Hudud thing might yet achieve the desired result. Hence this unrestrained Islam-whacking is necessary.

RPK

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written by Admiral Shin, August 26, 2012 05:44:19
Perceived insults are generally due to an inferiority complex, insecurity, intransigence as well as ignorance. Many years ago whilst showing a new varsity junior around KL, we were almost bashed up by a ketuanan type bigot because we mentioned the word ” Jalan Melayu “. What he heard was only ” Melayu ” and he took great offence at that. He swung his helmet at us besides levelling kicks our way. We fended off his attacks all the time protesting loudly that we were talking about the street “Jalan Melayu “; he refused to back off uttering expletives all the time until he exhausted himself, after which he was told by one goreng pisang seller that we did indeed talk about the nearby street. He made off with a huff with nary an apology or any sense of guilt.

As a digression, I wonder if our ” body snatchers ” are going to jet off to the US to carry off Neil Amstrong’s body now that the famous astronaut just passed on. There was a real ” shiok sendiri ” belief that Amstrong converted to Islam after hearing the azan on his ear phones whilst prancing on the lunar surface. This is not to ” perli ” anyone, but to show up what ignorance, belligerence and irrational thinking can befall the self appointed religious guardians of faith.

We all should practise good human values which are never at odds with religious tenets. Remember, religions are the tools of the shadowy ruling elites to control the human population through fear, insecurity and idolatry. These psychological states provide immense psychic forces that feed the entity the ruling shadowy elites serve. Humans must take their birthright of freedom, spiritual sovereignty and universal love away from this diabolical control.

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 04:51:37
RPK said: “Pro-arte, I read through the Hudud law application and I can’t find that part that says they only accept male witnesses for the crime of rebellion, murder, robbery and so on. Maybe you can help me by quoting the title of the book and author so that I can brush up my reading on Hudud. ”

Perhaps you can start by brushing up on the Hudud Bill drafted by the Terengganu state government which was actively promoted by Hadi Awang:

1) A woman cannot be a witness.

2) A woman who reports she has been raped will be charged for qazaf (false accusation) and flogged 80 lashes if she is unable to prove the rape.

3) An unmarried woman who is pregnant is assumed to have committed zina.

The Terengganu Hudud bill in this respect does not appear to be different to the Kelantan Hudud Bill formulated in 1993 where women are not allowed to be witnesses. The Hudud Ordinance of Pakistan also rejects females as witnesses.

I rest my case.

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written by Lord Jim, August 26, 2012 04:51:31
(contd…)

Islam is on its deathbed anyway, there is no problem waiting for an Iran in Asia with our monkeys totally unable to make it last due to its blessed stupidity and primitive mentality, more than one major power would vie to wipe out the monkeys as a favour to themselves – what do you expect, a bunch of wealthy Middle-Eastern monkeys forking out to make Malaysia an Islamic stronghold?

When the mullahs came to power in Iran, those veil and burqa types were desperate getting their hands on rather sexy lingerie and underwear items (worn under their Stone Age fashion) A couple of my (Jewish) Iranian friends made their fortunes supplying sexy clandestinely. I have more faith in our Muslim women keeping their bollocks-swinging men’s “religious” zeal in check. I also have vast confidence in our beer-swigging Muslims to maintain sanity.

Non-Muslims – don’t panic! Whatever happens you will always get your beers and pork and whatever else back! I can even help out with sexy if you want to control the “religious” nutters while waiting for Malaysia to collapse!

Singapore would not welcome “you”, though it would stoke the flame. I would publicly urge non-Muslims to switch off the economy. It would work better than in Palestine, the Israel look-alike in the Malaysian government would be shafting itself stupid if just this happens.

Cronies and those who are into baksheesh would be forced to expose their monkey allies in government, they have their blackmail card. This has been done before in other countries in Southeast Asia and has worked. The non-Muslims have the better reputation in the international economy.

Only card of the monkeys would be the balik Cina/India one and these days you cannot really use that (even if backed by violence and murder) Unlike in the past, China has dropped hints of involvement if it gets dragged into anti-Chinese rows. It is only a few hours to arrive at Malaysia via Thailand at the worse case scenario if our monkeys would provide that excuse. Whereas in the past it is left to the US to do regime change, these days China and India would want a hand too. Nothing better than to help our monkeys destablise Malaysia and killing themselves off! For me, balkanising Malaysia is the best way to get rid of Malaya from Sarawak.

(Cont…)

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written by bpchan, August 26, 2012 04:37:53
Aiyoh… I think the Chinese or non Muslim should comment about illegal 4d , drugs sold in almost every Chinaman Disco , prostitution in massage parlors and etc instead of Hudud , these are the serious social problems happening around us, don’t tell me you guys are not aware .

So many Chua Soi Leks here . Seek help from Cesar Millan please.

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 03:39:02
Dr Syed Alwi, I suppose you are right. If one side will not compromise and back down why should the other side do that? Both sides should stick to their guns come hell or high-water. Eventually something is going to break anyway and that will break the deadlock.

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 03:30:10
Pro-arte, I read through the Hudud law application and I can’t find that part that says they only accept male witnesses for the crime of rebellion, murder, robbery and so on. Maybe you can help me by quoting the title of the book and author so that I can brush up my reading on Hudud.

By the way, the Islamic law of khalwat (close proximity) already applies in Malaysia. So you do not need Hudud for that since it is currently already the law.

googoodools, some would disagree with you. Some would argue that Chinese education affects all Malaysians since it breeds racism. So I suppose it is one opinion against another.

RPK

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written by Nice n Simple, August 26, 2012 02:56:47
Well, good luck to the Malays who are not born free.

EDITOR: I can see that you are very concerned about the Malays, that’s all. Yeah, right.

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written by Supercally, August 26, 2012 02:21:56
The problem is the non malay (MCA) and the Malay (UMNO) are manipulating the issue to deceive the non malay and malay for their selfish aim

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 01:57:56
I think people should speak their mind on the Hudud issue. Why are we assuming that Malays are not willing to apply logic? Is it wrong to point out the truth? Hudud only allows males to be witnesses. This immediately conflicts with the Constitution which guarantees equality. Any right thinking person in 2012 would draw the conclusion that Hudud is primitive and outdated in applying this stipulation of having male witnesses only. If a witness can bring a criminal to justice, why should the sex matter?

Malaysians are not entirely stupid and full well know the Hudud issue has surfaced to show Malays that PAS is more true to Islam than UMNO because it supports Hudud. The truth is PAS doesn’t want any discussion on the details and ramifications of implementing Hudud as the reality would make Malays realise that Hudud is no longer relevant in 2012. It is justice for the victim which matters and not the sex of the witness.

I think it is foolhardy to assume that most Malays support the imposition of Hudud in Malaysia because any right thinking Malay even if he supports Hudud would only do so when we have independent Shariah courts, a police force which is not corrupt and a high level of integrity in society. Otherwise Hudud will be abused and atrocities like chopping innocent victims hands and stoning to death innocent couples accused of adultery will occur. Any miscarriages of justice cannot be redressed because limb amputation is permanent and devastating. Similarly raising someone from the dead after being stoned is not an option!
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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 01:51:53
Hudud will most definitely lend itself to abuse and corruption because individuals wanting to escape from having their their limbs amputated will offfer huge bribes if they had the means. The whole legal system would be corrupted in an instant by theiving billionaires. One has to look at the pronouncements of the State Mufti Harussani to realise that these religious scholars can so easily pervert the Koran and Hadiths to justify lies and corruption.

This is our experience of religious politicians as well. They speak with forked tongues. Not so long ago Hadi wanted to ‘muzakarrah’ with UMNO and Tok Aziz opposed it. Now Hadi says he will not ‘muzzakarah with UMNO but Tok Aziz says he wants to ‘muzakarrah’ with UMNO, But when Nasha Mat Isa is seen ‘bermuzakkarah’ with UMNO, they both oppose it !

Malays are watching the antics of these politicians and are making calculations. Of course Malays aspire to be good Muslims but they are no longer so beholden to politicans and religious leaders. The internet has revealed a whole new world of ideas and opinions to them and as a result has opened their minds and exposed the lies and hypocrisy of religious leaders and politicians.

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written by slash, August 26, 2012 01:17:29
jcsh_04, have you seen your god before?have you talk with him ? no? why? so is this called is INSANE too ?

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written by EnoughIsEnough, August 26, 2012 00:59:11
DengXiaoPing the father of modern China applies this approach as well, to leave the problem to the next generation (read indefinitely) on the following issues:
1. The claim to Taiwan
2. The claim to the disputed islands in the Pacific & the South China Seas
Wise man indeed. RPK, you are right on the button!

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written by M, August 26, 2012 00:25:19
I have to agree with RPK, t makes sense. Now on nothing will be said, we shall leave this issue to the Muslims.

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written by santi vardhana caitanya, August 26, 2012 00:21:48
Dear RPK,
if you are actually suffering from cold, I suggest you take “Indian Gooseberry” aka “Amalaki or “Amla”. It has 3000 mg of Vitamin C per fruit, making it the most powerful fruit in the world.

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written by Romeo2, August 26, 2012 00:14:00
Every new child comes with the message that God is not discouraged by man – Rabindranatha Tagore. How true! And we are still fighting over religions since civilization.

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written by poyo moyo, August 26, 2012 00:05:10
I am wondering why this minister jamil khir supposed to be incharge of national islamic affair is keeping quiet on this noisy issue. Is he not interested in his job and makan gaji buta or Is he busy doing private business or doing his ‘puasa 6’

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written by Dr Syed Alwi, August 25, 2012 23:55:34
Dear RPK,

This time you are very wrong ! This time RPK – you salah ! Are you telling me that the Non-Muslims have no say in the future of Malaysia that they cannot comment on Hudud ? RPK – please man – to make Hudud work, PAS will be forced to change the social climate of Malaysia into something like Saudi Arabia. Hudud only works when you have such a social climate.

And now you are telling me that the Non-Muslims of Malaysia cannot comment on this ?

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written by farcry, August 25, 2012 23:36:04
I have been wondering IF PR took over Putrajaya, will Malays and Chinese become even more divided? It will be a real battle between PAS and DAP at that time.

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written by Lord Jim, August 25, 2012 21:58:52
“Paki” is a racial slur in Britain so is even “Chicken Curry” for the Indians.

“Chinaman” is also a racial slur – but that does not stop our deculturalised, Sambo-ised monkeys from accepting it and happily using it even on themselves.

Our bananas among the Chinese would use “Chinaman” on other Chinese as if he is himself a white man! Somehow some Chinese are “Chinamen” while others are not! Somehow our Chinese monkeys seem to feel they are different and more “superior” to other Chinese. Given that the majority of Malaysian Chinese are from coolie and peasant stock, the need to feel “superior” shows more inferiority than anything. Seeing themselves as inferior, many Chinese like to pick on Malays to make themselves feel better. Invention of slurs like “metallic black” from even our supposed progressive democrats is not surprising.

Only very recently it is claimed that the Brits originally came from Turkey, the country. If anything, St George of the Brits was from there.

I have yet to see someone write and lay out good reasons why we should have hudud. But, please, you monkeys who rely on dogma and unquestioning “faith” had better not apply to do this!

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written by Voice of Reason, August 25, 2012 21:55:04
Maybe this is true for Malayans. But the East will oppose it to the bitter end. Just impose it on West Malaysians if you must but keep the secular East out of this. There’s a reason why West Malaysians of all races refuses to return to the peninsula once they’ve lived in Borneo. Where else in Malaysia can a Malay own or manage a pub?

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written by earthman, August 25, 2012 21:53:36
If one can see then one would notice the hypocrisy that some Malaysians would quote the Malaysian constitution for their own interest instead of for all Malaysians. When challenged they would quote the constitution that Malaya belongs to the Malays and Islam is the official religion. But these Malays would ignore the constitution when challenged on the freedom of faith and worship and equal justice for all .
Did the constitution say that a Malay cannot believe in Jesus and the Bible? Or did the constitution say that non Muslims cannot built their place of worship like the Muslims built their mosque? Or did the constitution say that the government can applied the NEP for the benefits of the Malays alone? You see many policies and laws in Malaysia are against the constitution but the Malays ignore it for their own interest . Is this not hypocrisy?
If the Muslims would unite because they feel threatened and ignore the facts, truth, injustices and hypocrisy before them , no one can stop them but they will have to answer to God Almighty Who gives this land for all to live and work together.
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written by googoodools, August 25, 2012 21:53:24
If Hudud doesn’t apply to non muslim/non malays, than yes i agree that they should not get involved in the Hudud debate. However, this is completely different from the example you quoted regarding chineses education. The chinese education issues merely affect chinese only but Hudud would probably have impact on all malaysian, not just muslims/malays.

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written by Saint, August 25, 2012 21:24:34
RPK is right, let the Muslims decide what they want first, and as history has told us, we as humans as such will not agree to anything that easily and Muslims are no exception.

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written by cty, August 25, 2012 21:10:25
I believe too that the hudud question be settled by Muslims just as long as non-Muslims are left out of its implementation. This is easily said then done when there are disagreements, altercations, murders etc that involve both parties. Which law should be followed? Hudud or Man’s Law. When non-Muslims do not make their objections now, hudud will definately be applied to them when implemented despite promises made otherwise. To digress, each time W Msians argue about hudud, some how or rather they forget about E Msians as if they do not matter quantitatively, is this not seer colonistic arrogance?

…
written by EU, August 25, 2012 21:07:25
If the Malays see that hudud is under attack, then, all the malays will vote PAS including the UMNO supporters. Maybe this is a good thing.

…
written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 20:50:55
Dear Temenggong,

I agree with your ‘prognosis’ regarding this damn christia* freak, they never learn from history. I can smell they are now try to be ‘Hollier than thou’

Hey freaks remember Spanish Inquisition?

Worshipping invisible god and worshipping idol can be considered as INSANE

…
written by temenggong, August 25, 2012 20:32:25
The Chinese under DAP have made a serious strategic mistake in thinking they can ride to Putrajaya on their own. Hijacked by christian religious bigots, for the last 4 years they have demonised everyone who criticised their shortcomings, and refused to make course corrections, inspite of several early warnings patiently for 4 years. Now is our turn. Two can play this game.

We cannot send Pakatan to Putrajaya in its current setup. There has to be a leadership and policy change in Pakatan first. This is final. Hence the demonisation of islam and hudud will continue, and increase, until Malays see the light. A list of vocal christian evangelist DAP MPs and Aduns outside Penang will be published to assist Malay voters in GE 13. But admittedly, we expect all Chinese majority seats to increase their majorities due to increased chinese swing and new voters.

Did you see how the stupid melayu Mansur Othman grovelled and collapsed in political servility? I enjoyed it.

…
written by Veritas Aequitas, August 25, 2012 20:32:03
Eventually the finer truths of reality will prevail. The religionists had already conceded many of the lies and falsehoods that they had held dearly, e.g. acknowledging the truth that the Sun do not revolves around Earth, and others.

Emmanuel Kant had argued that God, as a being than which no greater can be conceived, is a transcendental illusion that cannot be proven empirically, but it is a notion that is necessary, i.e. as a ‘white lie’ for various psychological reasons and soothe an existential crisis manifesting from the maturing mental states of the majority.

Certain people may have some vested interests against hudud, but imo, the majority who voice against hudud are doing so as concerned individuals of humanity to ensure humanity’s progress is not put into reverse gears. It is difficult for any rational person to accept ‘backward’ laws on a wholesale basis that is supposedly commanded from something based on a transcendental illusion and faith.

If there is anything good from hudud or any other sources, they should be dealt on a piecemeal basis and be deliberated for adoption as a secular law on a constitutional parliamentary basis. In this case, if it is later found not to be effective due to changing reality and circumstance, it can be amended, changed, or make void via parliament. In the case of religious based laws, once it is implemented, being immutable and that God cannot not make mistakes, it not likely to be changed.

For the sake of the progress of humanity, religion and politics should not be mixed at all.

…
written by albert zacharias, August 25, 2012 20:25:37
It all depends who, how, when and where it is spoken. In the bar everything goes. In the court every word counts and at home it does not matter. If nothing to say to another keep quiet lah. Politicians like soiled leg likes to put his big leg everywhere and get everybody soiled.

Don’t be like that lah.

…
written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 20:24:03
Mein Fuhrer,

You are right sir! will follow your advice…thanks for the enlightement.

…
written by nanakassim, August 25, 2012 19:58:11
I’m saying this with my mouth closed:
A wise man opens his mouth because he has something to say; a fool opens his mouth because he has to say something

…
written by Tompodus, August 25, 2012 19:57:48
Dear Tuanku RPK,

I may correct on this one! “Those born outside Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the country after 31st August 1957 would be Malaysians.”

The correction is, “Those born inside of Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the countries (Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak) after 16 September 1963 would be Malaysians.”

…
written by eternal flame, August 25, 2012 19:54:14
Why dont we talk about the welfare and well being of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban,Kadazan & Orang Asli
why are we still a developing country, Houses, Cars & prices of goods & services so expensive these days. Why are our salary so low yet we want to be a developed country come 2020, Our security guards salary is around rm 1000 per month can we put enough foods on the table compare to UK say 1000 pounds per month, Tell that to all the poor people in Malaysia, why cant we do something for them can Hudud solve all the problem for the poor people in Malaysia

…
written by An Observer, August 25, 2012 19:27:27
Thank you RPK for articulating this issue in a sensible way. I will have no more say in this Hudud issue. Whatever that can be said has been said, ad nauseum. Hopefully when everyone’s tired and done talking, we can move on.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As mentioned before, hudud is not something a majority of Malays want, just like the right to apostasy is something a minority of Malays do want. Hudud can be applied on a person to person basis but why anyone wants to allow the Syariah Court to amputate their limbs via consent to hudud will be just as unbelievable. There is no need to suspend Hudud but Hudud can be only applied on a case by case consensual Muslim basis, hudud however cannot be roundly applied on non-consenting Muslims in Malaysia as per the UN Human Rights Charter. Perhaps PAS is a part if the hegelian dialectic and cynical political control system the 99% just don’t need. There are fines and common sense punishment or jail terms in lieu of Hudud’s extremes, and now PAS wants hudud for all consenting or non-consenting Muslims regardless of choice and with RPK egging PAS on? Bad politics and invasive of personal freedoms. How could an ‘educated’ person like RPK keep at this b.s. promotion of hudud? We do not even have :

GOOD JOB Guan Eng & team: The Pearl of the Orient’s charm is back! – Thursday, 26 July 2012 09:41

One would need courage and humility to recognize the transformation taking place over these past several years in Penang since 2008. Indeed, a visit to Penang is the best way to learn, witness and partake in the beauty that is becoming of the once raped island.

Notice the ample thought given in creating bicycle lanes. Note too how motorists keep to the law even when out of sight of the law keepers.

Notice how the ferry is kept refreshingly clean. And sense the improved work attitudes of its employees – including clean uniforms and engaging charm.

Notice that the rotting stench of uncollected garbage and choking debris along the island’s shores have all gone missing. Improved too is the absence of stench from covered drains. And see how the shops and stall operators appear cleaner and more ‘schooled’ in mannerisms and hygiene.

Most noticeable is the re-appearance of retired senior citizens back on the circuit of being gainfully employed. From hotels to restaurants, you notice more grey hairs and weather beaten brows easily warming you with caring aged eyes and toothless grins.

Noticeable too is the almost near absence of imported legal (together with Malaysia’s paradoxical illegal labour) workers. It appears that now every Penangite has equal opportunity to work.

Chocking, honking traffic has almost vanished. In place, you sense that people are more in less a hurry.

Trishaw riders are miraculously back with a vibrancy in their characteristic all yellow trappings. And what a joy to see these peddlers have nice park benches to rest, chat and even play a round of checkers in between trips.

What seemed impossible not so long ago and for a long time but now so naturally possible is also significant. There is ample space created for taxis to park in an orderly un-obstructive manner while waiting to get customers.

More cheerful Penangites

No wonder the people of Penang now seem more cheerful as they go about their business of the day. Listening to their relaxed and open conversation makes you wonder too ‘how come’? Where did they get this sudden courage to speak their mind so candidly and without fear or cover?

The taxi drivers are making a joke of the hand-out for tyres, saying, “bagi tangan kanan, ambil balik tangan kiri biasa loh.” And the retirees back on the job market are saying, “sekarang senang mah, boleh cari makan loh.”

Food prices are far more cheaper than Kuala Lumpur – never mind the fact that Penang is only four hours driving distance. You can have a decent nasi kandar of choice for below ten ringgit. And serving you is no ‘pendatang haram’ but family and kin of Malaysian citizenry.

It appears that it does makes economic sense to do away with import labour and give citizens a chance to make a living.

Syabas Penangites. And a feather for your able island’s leadership.

Indeed the Pearl of the Orient is back and the people have proven that when you give back to society what rightly belongs to humanity, people take personal responsibility more seriously and they need little prodding with slogans and reprimands through long preaching down.

But you will need courage and humility to witness and acknowledge the glow that is being put back on that island beauty Penang.

Mailbag

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Gratuituous praise as usual eh? Penang is not the Pearl of the Orient. Hong Kong is. The pearl held by the lion in the crest of the Hong Kong insignia personifies the romanticised (though west inspired) phrase “Pearl of the Orient” referring to Hong Kong – NOT Penang, which has a palm tree signifying a plantation which is now a bleak and spiritually unhappy (mentally or superficially most in Penang are quite happy, abit deeper and just horror . . . ) expense of urban landscape no different from any other on the planet, except for the pretentious, narrow minded and parasitic insanity of some (not too many but quite numerous, so careful you visitors, NWO alert if anything . . . ) the residents.

Also the local DAP politicians are so dirty and vicious and accepting of second class citizenships that they will poison activists with the psychiatric establishment because their politics differ and ask for funeral funds before their deaths. Penang features far too much (there are some normal people but even these get swept up in whatever b.s. herd mentality style . . . ) of a charmless waste bin of fundos posing as good citizens parasiting off the poorer or ‘less well thought’ (some of the rich are nigh unthinking and can be quite insane when infected by religion or cults of personality in politics, infecting the poor and the greedy in turn) lot who have suffered so much (or inflicted so much harm) that they are no civilised people/no longer people beyond a veneer or brittle smiles or superficial politics.

Too few ‘pearls of people’ here in Penang either! Now if Sipadan tried, MAYBE because there are at least REAL PEARL farms there, but Sipadan is 30 years behind Penang, even as Penang is 30 years behind Hong Kong . . . Penang is too often (read the news and apply some logic to see what I mean) a cursed place peopled by political deadwood and the damned fundos backed by poisoners of a psychiatric establishment that have so far been hiding behind a complicit legal system from punishment for abusing people active in politics and activism, minority-fringe group issue advocacy (Minority of 1 is NOT insanity, in fact virtually nothing is insanity . . . ), outside the ‘allowed groups’ . . .

Meaning, Penang is a Fascist dictatorship of an oligarchic/plutocratic elite, NOT a real democracy where anyone can speak freely and participate . . . is the UN paying attention and identifying which ‘stupidos’ are insane as opposed to the non-establishment contrarians being labelled and sabotaged, now without privacy thanks to neurotech abuse sanctioned by the psy-establishment? Some fundos, politicians and psyche-personnel need to be put in prison and stripped of their social and professional status to exhonerate those they have abused and subverted, families they destroyed . . .

What if His Majesty the Agong wants to see a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all three parties that spells out very clearly and specifically the terms of the ‘Unity Government’ that DAP, PKR and PAS are going to form? And what if DAP insists that one of the terms of the MoU must be that Malaysia retains its Secular State status while PAS insists that the implementation of Hudud be one of the terms of the MoU? And because of this conflict, DAP, PKR and PAS end up in a deadlock and cannot sign the MoU and hence the Agong swears in the new Barisan Nasional government.

I said the lesser of the evils, not the lesser of the two evils. That is because in some cases there may be more than just two evils. And I am writing this article in response to the posting by Haris Ibrahim titled Manchester’s Plan B, stands and directions? Will RPK make sense of these for us?

In that posting, today, Haris gave me 48 hours to respond. This was what he said in the concluding paragraphs of his posting:

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I must confess that Plan B leaves me very troubled with the stand and the direction of RPK. Only RPK can lay those concerns to rest. Will the master strategist share his master strategy relating to Plan B, or so much of it as he can, with us? I will wait 48 hours to hear from him.”

Now, if you remember what I had said in the past, politics is always about compromises and choosing the lesser of the evils (or two evils). And that is why, as I had also said, I did not agree with Dr Chandra Muzaffar’s concept of ‘Politik Baru’ or ‘New Politics’.

I also wrote about how Dr Chandra ‘lectured’ me and was quite exasperated when I said ‘Politik Baru’ is an oxymoron. Politics is the oldest profession in the world (or second oldest if you regard prostitution as the oldest). Hence how can you have ‘New Politics’ when politics itself is the oldest game in town?

I was, of course, being cheeky. I knew what Dr Chandra meant. When he said ‘Politik Baru’ he meant we should indulge in clean politics and not in dirty politics. But can you really expect politics to be clean when the only way to win in the political game is to ‘play dirty’, as Malaysians would say?

And that is where the oxymoron comes in. To win you need to play a dirty game. If you play a clean game you would get whacked good and proper.

I used the analogy of a street fight. When someone walks up to you in a bar and punches you, do you put up your fists and defend yourself using Queensbury Rules? Queensbury Rules would work in a boxing ring with referees to monitor the boxing match. But in a bar where your opponent is not only drunk but also much bigger than you, you need to grab a bottle and whack him over the head with it. You floor the bugger then get the hell out of there in double-quick time.

Is this fair? Who cares? Your objective is not to get whacked, or worse, get killed. So you grab whatever you can and finish the guy off. Fair does not apply in such a situation when limb and life are in jeopardy.

Hence, in politics, if your opponent is not playing fair why should you? If you want to win against a dirty opponent you need to be even dirtier than your opponent. And if you do not have the stomach for such a dirty game then do not become a politician because politics is dirty. It is as simple as that.

Dr Chandra was trying to change the rules of the game. But the other side will not play by your rules. They will set their own rules. And the rule is there are no rules. Hence it should be the law of the jungle. And the law of the jungle is about survival of the fittest. The weak die. You either move to the top of the food chain or else you will become food for those stronger than you.

And that is what politics is all about.

For more than a year I have been raising all sorts of issues involving Pakatan Rakyat. I have pointed out the weaknesses in Pakatan Rakyat. I have pointed out that Pakatan Rakyat is no longer honouring the letter and the spirit of The Poeples’ Declaration although they had endorsed it in the run-up to the last general election.

I also pointed out that we are perturbed by the quality of the candidates. We do not trust some of the people in Pakatan Rakyat and feel that they are for sale. In fact, some have even proven us correct by defecting to the other side.

In our meeting with Anwar Ibrahim in London, we warned him that in the last general election most people were happy to just vote for anyone who was not Umno or Barisan Nasional. However, we have found some of these candidates a huge disappointment. The next time around, we warned Anwar, the voters are going to look at the candidates closely and will vote based on candidates, no longer based on party lines.

Anwar said that he agreed with our observation and that they have taken note of this point and plan to address it when they choose the candidates for the next general election. Anwar also explained that Pakatan Rakyat was having problems attracting candidates to contest on the Pakatan Rakyat ticket.

We were actually quite aware of this. And the problem existed even back in 1999 when Pakatan Rakyat did not exist yet and the opposition coalition then was called Barisan Alternatif. We also personally know some of those people who had been approached. But they declined the offer to contest the election even when they were told they need not join the party but could contest as ‘independent’ candidates. However, they would need to contest on the party ticket even if they did not sign up as party members.

We told Anwar that if this was the only problem they faced then we would be very happy to assist the opposition in sourcing for candidates. Following that, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) was launched and one of the first tasks of many that we embarked upon was to look for candidates to contest the general election.

We were very surprised, however, when we were told that Pakatan Rakyat would not accept our candidates. We were even more surprised when they started saying that our purpose in looking for candidates was to trigger three-corner contests in an effort to ‘pecah undi’ (split the votes) and help Barisan Nasional win the election.

After a year of trying to explain that this was not our ‘hidden agenda’ and that what we were doing was merely in response to what Pakatan Rakyat said — their problem in finding candidates — I decided to abort the exercise.

To make matters worse, we could not meet our target of 30 candidates because of the negative publicity about what we were trying to do. When we met with resistance, we stopped at seven candidates. We thought it was futile to push for 30 when there is so much bad publicity about our effort.

Eventually, the candidates dropped out one-by-one until we were left with just one candidate. And even that solitary candidate was going to be a problem because he wanted to contest in Kapar, Kelang, and that seat was ‘owned’ by PKR and PKR’s man in Kapar, Mike, was not going to give up his seat.

Hence Kapar would have to be a three-corner contest. And if the MCLM candidate contests Kapar in a three-corner fight this will only prove our critics right, that we are splitting the votes to help Barisan Nasional win the seat.

So, as I said, after more than a year of trying unsuccessfully to explain what we were doing and still not making any headway, I announced on 1st January this year that we are abandoning the independent candidate initiative. Actually, what I said was in response to a question by the chap interviewing me.

Jalil Hamid of NST asked me about MCLM and about MCLM’s plan to contest the general election. I corrected him by saying that MCLM never planned to contest the general election. That was not our intention at all. What we were trying to do was to help Pakatan Rakyat look for candidates. However, since this effort is not welcomed, we are dropping the whole idea.

Haris was most unhappy about this and he accused me of making a unilateral decision and said that this had never been discussed. Haris then resigned from MLCM while the others who were supposed to have been the candidates announced that they were distancing themselves from me. It appears my announcement that the independent candidate initiative is now off was not received well at all.

My contention was that if Pakatan Rakyat wanted our support then more effort needed to be put into fielding better candidates. And we told Anwar so, which he did not dispute. However, if what we were trying to do is going to be met with such a negative response then we might as well just abandon the whole exercise.

However, Pakatan Rakyat cannot expect our support if they field substandard candidates. Then everyone screams and tells me that it must be anything but Umno (ABU) and nothing else. Even when I pointed out that Pakatan Rakyat is not perfect, they scream, “Never mind. Pakatan Rakyat may not be perfect. There may be many weaknesses and even some corruption in Pakatan Rakyat. However, compared to Umno and Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat is the lesser of the two evils.”

So there you have it. We are supporting Pakatan Rakkyat not because they are perfect. We know they are not perfect. But compared to Umno and Barisan Nasional they are the lesser of the two evils. And that would be the principle behind why we should support Pakatan Rakyat. It is a very clear stand we take. Our stand is to support Pakatan Rakyat on the principle that it is the lesser of the two evils.

Okay, if that is what the majority wants then I can live with that. Unfortunately, in a democracy, it is what the majority wants that counts. Whether what the majority wants is right or wrong is not crucial. If the majority in Germany during WWII wanted the Jews exterminated then the Jews will get exterminated. Is this the right thing to do? Maybe not but majority rule is not about what is right. That is the downside of democracy, as history has time and again proven.

Okay, I was opposed to the ends justifying the means, and I said so many times. I was opposed to the concept of choosing the lesser of the two evils, and I said so many times. The end justifying the means is a dangerous concept.

The Americans tried to assassinate Fidel Castro to solve their problem with Cuba. Assassination of a foreign leader is wrong but then the end justifies the means. They were looking at the lesser of the two evils. Assassinating a foreign leader is an evil thing to do. However, allowing Castro to rule Cuba is a bigger evil. Hence assassinating him is the lesser of the two evils.

And that is why I was opposed to the concept of the end justifying the means and the lesser of the two evils. Where do we stop? How far do we go? What becomes halal (allowed) and what becomes haram (forbidden)? Under the concept of the end justifying the means and the lesser of the two evils there is no haram. Everything is halal. So see how dangerous it can become?

While we in the opposition propagate the concept of the end justifying the means and the lesser of the two evils, Umno and Barisan Nasional too play that same game. And they are in power so they can play the game more effectively and more successfully than us.

Okay, what stand do Umno and Barisan Nasional take? Their stand is very simple. They do not want to lose power. So they need to retain power by defeating Pakatan Rakyat in any way possible, fair or foul means never mind.

Umno works on one very basic principle. And that principle is the Chinese control the corporate sector. Hence the Malays must control the political arena. The Chinese cannot dominate both the corporate world as well as politics. The Malays must dominate politics at all costs. And no cost is too great to pay.

What if Umno is going to lose political power? What if the majority of the voters vote against Barisan Nasional? Umno will have to make sure that this does not happen. They cannot allow a level playing field and face the risk of losing power. Hence all manner of gerrymandering must be applied plus the electoral roll will have to be padded with ‘BN-friendly’ voters.

What if after doing all this they still lose the election? Say, in spite of all the manipulation, Barisan Nasional still gets ousted. Are they prepared to quietly walk away and concede defeat? Or will they embark upon a post-election ‘exercise’ ultra virus to the Constitution to prevent Pakatan Rakyat from walking into Putrajaya?

Barisan Nasional has lost the election. But they refuse to give up power. They are retaining power through unconstitutional means. And that is evil. So what do we do? Do we just keep quiet or do we also play that same evil game?

No doubt what we need to do will also be evil. But it is going to be the lesser of the two evils. And the lesser of the two evils would be to launch a civil war against an unconstitutional government that refuses to concede defeat in the general election.

Take note, though, many lives will be lost. And that, of course, is an evil thing to happen. But is the loss of thousands of lives a lesser evil than the loss of the government? Or will it be the other way around? Will the loss of the government be the lesser evil? Would you consider lives as very precious and that the loss of thousands of lives can never justify the quest for power?

Another possible scenario would be that Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general election and there is a smooth and peaceful transfer of power. We cannot rule out that possibility as well. Then that would make this entire discussion purely academic.

Yet another possibility would be that Barisan Nasional wins the general election but with such a slim majority that it is almost a hung Parliament plus they lose almost half the 13 state governments, like what happened once upon a time. Then this triggers a power struggle in Umno, like what happened once upon a time. The group that wants to oust the group in power is more radical and believes in a hard-line action against the opposition to totally wipe out the opposition once and for all.

Now, we want to see the emergence of a two-party system in Malaysia. And two party-system means two parties equally-balanced where one can check the other. However, if the radical group succeeds in grabbing power then this aspiration of a two-party system would be buried. Thus, we need the liberals and not the radicals to hold power in Putrajaya.

If the radicals take over then there would no longer be any credible opposition come the general election, say, in 2018. However, if the liberals rule then the opposition still has one more shot in 2018, or whenever.

Okay, this is based on the scenario that Pakatan Rakyat fails to win the coming general election and Barisan Nasional is weakened further from the 2008 general election. If Pakatan Rakyat does worse than it did in 2008 then the problem ends. If Pakatan Rakyat wins the general election then we may have a problem but a different kind of problem. And if Pakatan Rakyat does better than it did in 2008 but Barisan Nasional still wins then it would be yet another kind of problem.

So there are three possible outcomes and three possible problems attached to these outcomes. Hence, based on the lesser of the evils, as what you all want, we have to figure out our course of action. Each course of action has some evil attached. The question would be: which would you regard as the lesser of that evil?

You may think that the above is mere speculation and not based on anything tangible. Okay, let me put it another way. Say Barisan Nasional wins 110 Parliament seats in total. The balance 112 Parliament seats are shared between PKR, DAP and PAS. Say DAP wins 40 seats, PKR 37 seats and PAS 35 seats. Who will get to form the government?

Barisan Nasional, a legally registered party, has the most number of seats, 110, compared to DAP, PKR and PAS who all won less than 110 seats each. You may argue that DAP, PKR and PAS can always combine their seats, which means the total would be 112 and hence more than Barisan Nasional’s 110.

Are you sure? What if they can’t? What if His Majesty the Agong wants to see a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all three parties that spells out very clearly and specifically the terms of the ‘Unity Government’ that DAP, PKR and PAS are going to form? And what if DAP insists that one of the terms of the MoU must be that Malaysia retains its Secular State status while PAS insists that the implementation of Hudud be one of the terms of the MoU? And because of this conflict, DAP, PKR and PAS end up in a deadlock and cannot sign the MoU and hence the Agong swears in the new Barisan Nasional government.

Yes, yet a fourth possible scenario. And in politics anything is possible. In fact, the more impossible it may appear the more possible that it may happen. So, in this case, which would you regard as the lesser of the two evils? I don’t know so you tell me. Migrate? Take up arms and start a civil war? Curse PAS and DAP for not coming to an agreement on the matter of Hudud? Curse Anwar for not resolving this matter before the general election? What? You tell me!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This article is most ingenuous and insulting to the Rakyat’s intelligence!

a) What if His Majesty the Agong wants to see a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all three parties that spells out very clearly and specifically the terms of the ‘Unity Government’ that DAP, PKR and PAS are going to form?

No such requirement in UN or foreign nation recognition – the Agong can denounce a MOU refusing political party yet that party can still be recognized worldwide. Only a majority of MPs matters even if no MOU’s exist. This is ‘Absolute Monarchy’ talk. Are you mad RPK? Bodeking back into favour?

b) And what if DAP insists that one of the terms of the MoU must be that Malaysia retains its Secular State status while PAS insists that the implementation of Hudud be one of the terms of the MoU?

The UN insists that ALL countries of the world are secular to a point. Or do we need NATO peacekeepers to remind? Hudud as mentioned can be implemented in majority assenting districts in Malaysia, ridiculous to suggest Hudud in ALL of Malaysia ESPECIALLY in majority non-Malay districts and even in non-assenting majority Malay districts which have Malay majorities that do not want Hudud which by all common sense considerations leaves only Terengganu and Kelantan as possible consideration for Hudud (even Kelantan and Terengganu might have significant though not necessarily majority numbers of districts that do not want Hudud which by UN standards may not be enforced upon those populaces either.).

c) And because of this conflict, DAP, PKR and PAS end up in a deadlock and cannot sign the MoU and hence the Agong swears in the new Barisan Nasional government.

RPK must be senile here saying ‘And hence the Agong swears the new Barisan Nasional government (minority) voted government.‘

If BN is a minority, BN cannot be sworn in by the Agong – the UN or any responsible foreign government would never recognize the new MINORITY government! Because internationally only the majority coalition is recognized! More Absolute Monarchy from RPK. RPK, you really disappointed in this article and treat the Rakyat and readers like simpletons. RPK may be well informed but RPK can’t think straight for sh1t these days or presumes that everyone else can’t. Just look at the quality of articles RPK has been dishing out these days. Tsk tsk tsk . . . RPK should return to Malaysia and stand against Anwar in Penang, that perhaps RPK can do, something useful like give an alternative to Anwar – I think RPK is no more fundo and potentially more open minded than Anwar though no word yet on that backtrack LGBT yet . . . RPK shouldn’t don’t bother throwing strawmen scenarios and absolute monarchy at the Rakyat from jolly England and do something useful for GE13.

d) Curse PAS and DAP for not coming to an agreement on the matter of Hudud? Curse Anwar for not resolving this matter before the general election?

No. The Rakyat just won’t vote for them. The best curse is to not vote for any MP. In either case 2 terms only!

“While this might be a good vote-getting strategy in some parts of Malaysia, his claim shamefully runs completely contrary to the central principle of non-discrimination in international human rights law,” was Robertson’s rants against Anwar, picked up in a statement the HRW issued last week.

Azmi Anshar, NST

DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been busted again, playing both sides of the coin when he should have picked one and be done with it. But then, it’s an Anwar speciality over the years he’s been grating the public consciousness.

This time though, his duality — this split personality meandering on human rights issues — is his own doing, one that invited a stricture that, surprisingly, didn’t bore from a Federal Government leader, backer or blogger.

It was unloaded by Human Rights Watch’s (Asia division) Phil Robertson, an ally fuming at Anwar’s doublespeak uttered during his revealing testimony in his lawsuit against Utusan Malaysia last week.

Responding to defence counsel’s questions, Anwar the plaintiff explicitly agreed that homosexuals should be discriminated to protect the sanctity of marriage. Full stop? Not quite. It was not the point that Anwar wanted to make as he insisted that “archaic” laws should be reviewed to prevent punishment of the innocent.

Defence lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein’s question could not have been clearer: “Should we discriminate against homosexuals?” Firoz asked. “Yes” was Anwar’s emphatic reply.

Anwar went on: “We don’t give space to homosexuals and uphold the sanctity of marriage…the law must be crafted in a way we must believe the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman…we do not promote homosexuality.”

Anwar had a partisan reflection when he articulated why Malaysia’s anti-homosexual laws were “archaic”, illustrating something that seemed “personal” when he intoned, “legislation to punish innocent people should not be condoned or tolerated”.

When pressed to elaborate on why he considered existing laws against unnatural sex under Section 377 of the Penal Code to be “archaic”, Anwar was more direct: “…because it is hardly used and only used for political reasons”.

That’s Anwar speciality, that ability to tie you up in literary knots even under oath. For the general populace, he wants homosexuals discriminated — banned, barred, isolated or alienated — yet he wants “archaic” laws governing the counter-culture to be reformed. Which is it?

Robertson wasn’t having any of Anwar’s nonsensical flip-flops, directly denouncing his anti-gay position as “shameful”, “fundamentally wrong” while accusing him of playing politics with civil liberties.

“While this might be a good vote-getting strategy in some parts of Malaysia, his claim shamefully runs completely contrary to the central principle of non-discrimination in international human rights law,” was Robertson’s rants against Anwar, picked up in a statement the HRW issued last week.

Bang goes Anwar’s carefully manufactured reputation as an international human rights advocate. The malarkey of his global pulpit, centred upon caressing his image in the likes of civil rights battlers Aung San Suu Kyi, is exposed as untenable when it comes to defending political self-preservation, especially his vested interest with Islamic allies Pas and a host of like-minded religious jurors.

To be sure, Robertson would just have imposed a similar judgment against the Federal Government, but there are diametric differences: whereas Anwar speaks with a forked tongue, the Barisan Nasional has consistently insisted that gays have no role to play in the mainstream.

To be plain, Anwar is a hypocrite (by Robertson’s angry diatribe) and a liar (by the rants of disappointed supporters) as he speaks for the downtrodden before international audiences, but deserts them at home. On the other hand, the Federal Government opposes — as representative of the moral/religious majority and a matter of national law/policy — the LGBT (Lesbians Gays Bisexual Transgender) movement propelled by Bersih leader Datuk S. Ambiga.

Going by the consistency of his ironies and deceptions, Anwar wants to be a man of all seasons for everybody and if he trips on his convoluted political rhetoric, that’s fine because in his mind, enough people have the required gullibility to believe in his “heartfelt” empathy.

Until someone like Robertson comes along to fiercely prick Anwar’s hydrogen-inflated and moveable balloon.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Less LGBT hate by allowing a pro-LGBT article is NOT an apology or backtrack on some of RPK’s less LGBT neural articles.

ARTICLE 4

Stop playing race game – FROM AROUND THE BLOGS – Wednesday, 25 July 2012 Super Admin – AZMI SHAROM

The country has changed so much since 1969 that to keep using the argument that we are on the verge of race war is rather obsolete.

I WAS wondering when it was going to happen; when certain quarters were going to dust off that old chestnut of May 13, 1969, and use it as a political tool.

It all seems terribly coincidental that as the general election draws nearer, suddenly race riots get inserted into political speech, and a movie about May 13 is apparently waiting to be released.

The country has changed so much since 1969 that to keep using the argument that we are on the verge of race war is rather obsolete.

Let’s look at some facts. Firstly, the vast majority of the Malaysian population were not even born in 1969.

This means that first-hand knowledge of that terrible time is simply not part of most of us. Without that emotional connection, I believe that younger Malaysians are willing to question the feasibility of such a thing happening again.

And really, could it? In 1969, the politics of the nation was so very clearly divided along racial lines. The Opposition was not united as it is today. PAS won 12 seats, DAP 13 and Gerakan 8.

They were not part of a coalition and each stood on its own, therefore it was possible to play the race game because, in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in particular, the Opposition had the face of “the other”.

Today, with the Pakatan coalition in existence, the Opposition is a much more complex animal. If the Opposition wins, how can the race card be played when two of the component parties are so predominantly Malay?

Let’s take a look at recent events that has got some powerful people’s knickers in a twist.

In particular the Bersih demonstrations of 2007, 2011 and 2012. The demographics of these events were multi-ethnic and became even more multi-ethnic with each progressive one.

By the time of this year’s Bersih demonstration, the make-up of the people who took part was much closer to the make-up of the country as a whole. However, the predominant ethnic group was still Malay.

This goes to show that the political divide, not of political parties but of ordinary citizens, can no longer be conveniently divided along ethnic lines.

Significant numbers of Malaysians, regardless of their background, can be united when they have a common political goal, in this case clean and fair elections.

Furthermore, ethnic Malays can be vocally unhappy with the status quo. In the present-day scenario, it is ridiculous to say that the politics in Malaysia is simply a matter of Malays versus Non-Malays.

And let us look at the 2008 elections. The results were unprecedented and surprised most people. I remember that night very well, as the results became clear that Barisan had lost their two-thirds majority and five state governments.

I decided to drive around Kuala Lumpur, just to see what would happen. And what happened? Nothing.

The streets were quiet. No celebratory parties, no processions, no fireworks; nothing.

The Opposition and their supporters on the streets were as muted as the Barisan and their supporters.

No gloating, no taunting, no excuses at all to provoke a reaction from the supporters of the powers-that-be.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will not impose new taxes to compensate for any potential loss of revenue from its plan to shelve excise duties to lower the sticker price for cars if it takes power in the next general election.

PKR’s strategy director Rafizi Ramli had on Tuesday announced that the federal opposition intends to cut the triple tax on cars — import, excise and sales tax — if it wins the coming general election.

Today, Rafizi (picture) said that there will be “no introduction of new taxes”.

Instead, he said, a PR federal government would instead cut spending and also revamp the current Approved Permit (AP) system to make up for any losses.

“I think we can look at how we manage APs. APs now… to give riches buta-buta (blindly),” he said.

“If AP is managed well, there will be a source of wealth that can balance the loss of revenue from excise duty.”

However, he said, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would only announce details of PR’s mechanism for the alternative source of revenue next week.

Rafizi had previously admitted that the government could lose RM8 billion in yearly revenue if car taxes are cut.

But the offer to voters will effectively boost the disposable incomes of Malaysians and reduce household debts.

Malaysians pay inordinately high prices for cars mainly because of the protection afforded to national carmaker Proton since 1984.

The public pays import, excise and sales taxes that translate into some of the highest car prices in the region and the world.

A recent income survey found that a household earning RM3,000 a month could spend up to 50 per cent of its income on maintaining a car.

A cut in car duties — which currently run as high as 105 per cent — could help stimulate the economy by boosting disposable income and reducing household debt burden, analysts have also told The Malaysian Insider.

The high taxes now have resulted in about 20 per cent of the RM581 billion total household debt in the country last year being held in cars, an asset that depreciates over time.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Pakatan must be mad if they think the Rakyat are going to continue paying extra for their cars to some AP Crony – this shows Anwar supports apartheid in some manner as well! Unvotable! Vote 3rd Force which will make ALL OF MALAYSIA an AP and duty free zone. Who ever suggests or supports keeping AP must be enmired in crony politics mentality, a crony or plain greedy. Look around the world, there is no such thing as AP in any developed country and even in Africa where apartheid has officially ended, there is no AP, though apartheid still exists in some places unofficially from unremoved legal or social or other embedded structures.

Jul 25: Acknowledging it is the government’s right to appeal against yesterday’s decision by the High Court declaring the coalition a legal entity, the grouping however advised Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein not to do so.

“For the sake of our country, we sincerely ask them not to pursue with an appeal and to drop all the civil suits against us as it is a waste of public funds,” Bersih 2.0 steering committee members said in a statement.

The coalition said it hoped BN would accept present political realities and deal with Bersih 2.0 as a legitimate entity demanding free and fair elections on behalf of the people.

Judge Rohana Yusof ruled in favour of Bersih, pointing out to contradiction by the authorities who allowed Bersih to hold its third rally this year despite not revoking the pronouncement that it was ‘illegal’.

Bersih is led by former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreevenasan and literary icon Samad Said, along with 14 other steering committee members.

Responding to the judgement, Hishamuddin said his ministry would discuss with the Attorney General whether to appeal against the decision.

Bersih meanwhile called on BN to start cooperating to improve the electoral system.

Meanwhile, PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, describing the judgement a victory for the people, hoped that lesson was learnt by BN.

“This is a reminder against issuing a declaration which violated the law, and Hishamuddin should be aware that many rally participants were arrested because of that wrong declaration,” he added.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

A group of citizens backed by the Bar Council, could file a lawsuit against the Home Minister, CPO of the district or at least the highest ranking officer at the rally for not making orders clear or controlling their men. As for being beaten and hurt during the rally where provable (i.e. has filmed evidence) compensation by the ENTIRE police force perhaps in salary dockings collectively shared rather than taxapayers’ monies, no offense to police but this shouldn’t be too much individually when divided, and does give a message to the police to not resort to violence or at least use submission holds and moves (no hitting with batons or rubber hoses unnecessarily, what does the PDRM think this is, Camel Riders in Egypt under Mubarak?), with any protestors and ralliers who threw the first punch first being left out of any compensation unless obviously retaliated against in an inequitable manner. Lets see if the Courts or Bar Council get blackballed internationally or the Home Minister, CPO or Ranking Officer has to resign at very least. As for BERSIH, please make clear on the below, Anwar’s ‘keep AP in place’ fortells much cronyism and potential apartheid if anything :

;and field some candidates for GE13! We can’t hand the government to either BN or PR, 3rd force is best (well maybe DAP and PKR if the 90% and 50% family blocs (and crony capitalists) respectively are not fielded in GE13!

ARTICLE 7

PKR Youth wing against hudud – Wednesday, 25 July 2012 Super Admin

NOT IN FAVOUR: Its chief, Shamsul Iskandar, on same wavelength as Karpal in opposing the Islamic law

Its chief, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, yesterday warned his Pas counterpart, Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi, that he had opened a Pandora’s box over his recent comment on the implementation of hudud, which had raised the ire of Karpal and other DAP members.

He said it was improper for Nasrudin to dredge up the longstanding issue as he claimed that the stance of the alliance between PKR, DAP and Pas on the Islamic criminal law was clear.

“I would like to advise Nasrudin to refer to our agreement late last year that hudud is not part of Pakatan Rakyat’s joint policy until all member parties agree to it.”

Shamsul Iskandar added that close to 30 top opposition party leaders had met for over three hours on Sept 29, last year to resolve the deep-rooted hudud issue, which has seen DAP and Pas repeatedly at loggerheads.

“DAP’s objection has to be respected and PR will continue to allow its members to air different views,” he said.

On Friday, Karpal had expressed displeasure upon learning that Nasrudin had, during a political debate, suggested that he was willing to consider hudud for the country.

Hudud is a term used in Syariah to describe the class of punishment for certain crimes such as theft, fornication and adultery, consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants and apostasy.

Nasrudin had uttered the remark during a debate with Umno Working Committee Secretariat of Young Ulama chairman Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya.

Karpal had also asked Pas leaders to keep its “members in the lower ranks” in check, and urged them to pursue the welfare state, an ideal endorsed by the DAP, PKR and Pas alliance.

He had also claimed that Pas had abandoned its aspirations to set up an Islamic state and implement Islamic laws in the country as a trade-off for its cooperation with DAP and PKR.

On Monday, however, Pas syura council member Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed refuted Karpal’s statement and said having Islamic laws and setting up an Islamic state were still high on Pas’s agenda.

Pas Youth deputy chief Dr Raja Ahmad Al Hiss yesterday said he did not want the dispute between Karpal and Nasrudin to interfere with preparations for the elections.

“Since the general election is approaching, Pas does not want to get distracted as we want to stay committed to ensuring Pakatan Rakyat’s victory and capturing Putrajaya,” he said in a text message yesterday.

Meanwhile, MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong challenged senior PKR and DAP leaders to state their stand on hudud and to “chastise Pas” over its plan to implement Islamic laws in the country.

“If PKR is for the creation of a welfare state, does that mean it is for or against hudud, considering the fact that its leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had voiced his support for hudud?” Wee asked in a statement here yesterday.

“So far, Karpal has been a lone ranger in speaking against hudud. (Are) the DAP office-bearers distancing themselves from their chairman?”

“Karpal cannot confidently say that Pas gave up on the creation of an Islamic state in favour of a welfare state if Nasrudin publicly declares otherwise and has the support of a Pas Syura council member.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I can imagine DAP and PAS throwing even more religious strawmen at the Rakyat if they win. What will be left of Malaysia may be worse but in a different way than if BN won. BN – Corruption and Racism, or PR – Fundamentalism and Nepotism? Choose neither BN nor PR by voting for 3rd Force. BN came and went. Pakatan failed and needs to be booted. 3rd Force must prevail or more madness, but of a different sort, looks set to continue under PR unless all Pakatan MP’s sign a statuary declaration supporting a bill for :

But only 3rd Force looks able to sign a Statuary Declaration confirming their committment to ensure the above, with BN actually currently having the mandate to grant the above but simply refusing to use that mandate! Failed coalitions both! Vote for 3rd Force!

Amanah has decided to go with BN’s ‘don’t use mandate’ to ‘not end apartheid’ or ‘don’t end 2 classes of citizenship’ – so Amanah becomes non-3rd Force. Does the Rakyat know how to vote yet?

Career politicians — which would be what most Malaysian politicians are — are in it for the money. If politicians are not paid any salary or allowance and, say, wakil rakyat, instead of receiving a salary/allowance, need to pay for the ‘honour’ of being a wakil rakyat, how many would want to become a wakil rakyat?

For example, the First Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, took six months no-pay leave to campaign in the general election (he handed the administration of the country to his deputy, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein). He also sold a lot of his personal property to finance Umno. When the Tunku retired he was almost broke and could not even afford to pay his income tax. So the government froze his gratuity.

How many politicians would do what the Tunku did?

The Tunku, understandably, was very sad. After being ousted and forced out of office on allegations that he was a ‘Chinese lover’ and that he is to blame for the 13th May 1969 race riots due to his excessive ‘compromises’ with the Chinese, he is whacked with a huge income tax bill and his gratuity is frozen.

The Tunku who did so much for the country and sacrificed his personal wealth for the sake of the country is made into a pariah and suffers persecution. That turned him into a bitter old man and when the old Umno was wound up and the new Umno (Umno Baru) was formed he refused to become a member. In fact, he worked with Semangat 46 to oppose Umno Baru. And when he died he died outside Umno.

The Third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, also opposed Umno Baru and, just like the Tunku, died outside Umno. He too did not like what Umno had become. His intentions never changed. Neither did the Tunku’s. But Umno had changed. And both these gentlemen did not like what they saw in the new Umno that rose from the ashes of the old Umno.

. . . what happens if the party has transformed or mutated into something that you do not believe in? Do you call it a day and move on or do you bite the bullet and stifle your dissent? Dissent would be considered as rebellion in a political party. Demonstrating dissent would weaken the party as it gives an impression that the party is divided, or worse, disintegrating.

But doing so goes against what you believe in. So what do you do? Do you speak out and risk being seen as not toeing the party line or do you leave and be called a traitor or turncoat? Not an easy decision, especially for someone who has attained a high profile status in the party.

For example, the Qur’an starts by saying that there is good and there is bad in liquor but there is more bad than good. Hence this verse can be taken as an advice about the ills of liquor but not quite a prohibition from drinking.

Then the Qur’an says you must not drink before your prayers. This is a prohibition but a prohibition only when you are going to pray. In other words you can still drink as long as you are not about to pray.

Finally, the Qur’an prohibits liquor altogether.

Now, the Qur’an is supposed to be the word of God but sent to us through the Prophet Muhammad. So why can’t God (or Muhammad) make up His mind? Why the ‘U-turn’? Why like this one day and like that another day? Why not be consistent?

Students of the Qur’an can tell you that in the early days of Islam when the pagans of Mekah were not yet ready to fully abandon their old customs and traditions, Muhammad (or God, if you embrace the belief that the Qur’an is God’s word) had to be more compromising and less hard line. However, after more than a decade, after Islam had become well entrenched in Medinan society, Muhammad was able to be more intolerant and less compromising on what was considered unIslamic.

True, people have left Umno-BN and people have crossed over from the opposition to join Umno-BN. But different people have done so for different reasons.

Onn Jaafar, as an example, left Umno because Umno would not accept non-Malays into the party. He wanted Umno to abandon its Malay agenda and transform itself into a Malaysian party. But Umno could not agree to that. So, since Umno did not share his ideals of a non-race-based party, he left. Since he could not change Umno and since he was not prepared to change his stand just to toe the party line, he quit to form his own non-race-based party UMNO Baru.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The above article is the cleaned up and manipulation free version of the original. Read the original at your own risk at :

RPK is still manipulating, propagating (replicating more like) a certain ‘definitely skewed’ mode of thought, though far more cautiously after the past few responses on this blog which some might consider harsh. But when a man as old as RPK speaks, tolerance for manipulation and inaccuracy or lack of logic is virtually zero by the standards of today’s youth. More rebuttals :

1) But doing so goes against what you believe in. So what do you do? Do you speak out and risk being seen as not toeing the party line or do you leave and be called a traitor or turncoat? Not an easy decision, especially for someone who has attained a high profile status in the party.

This presumes or causes the reader “corruptible ethics” as well as pre-empts political parties to be undemocratic . RPK sinks to new lows, or displays more uncorrected character flaws . . .

2) . . . Muhammad was able to be more intolerant and less compromising on what was considered unIslamic. . . .

Shows that RPK is not ‘naturally nice’ or ‘naturally all encompassing’ or not inclined to diversity. So if RPK is praising and intending to be like Muhammed, fully expect that IF RPK has the ‘power’, RPK will be merciless but meanwhile will play nice because RPK has no power at the moment. So who needs this sort of MP/leader like RPK? Fail again, and more authoritarianism. I still encourge RPK to return to Malaysia and stand against Anwar in Anwar’s constituency, choosing between the lesser of 2 evils and all that y’know . . . UMNO Baru could even be revived but only if the below 3 items are part of the new party and part of all MP or required as candidates’ statuary declarations for the Rakyat :

Otherwise only 3rd Force candidates fresh from the Rakyat with a Statuary Declaration on the above 3 items, and ready to leave after 2 terms are the only votables. End the APARTHEID of Bumiputra and make Apostasy something that cannot be punished! The Quran cannot be misinterpreted in this manner as a tool of control against Malays, even as APARTHEID of Bumiputra is against all concept of Islamic (and Human) civilisation!

An article in the Perkasa website accuses the DAP veteran of being the main force behind the riots which, according to the writer, claimed 2,000 lives.

RK Anand, FMT

Ruling politicians have never failed to remind Malaysians of the sectarian violence which rocked the nation more than four decades ago.

The spectre was often summoned to stoke fear in the hearts of the electorate and served as a convenient tool to create suspicion and animosity between the races.

And while the soon-to-be repealed Sedition Act was used against those who uttered statements of comparatively lesser evil, those who peddled the May 13 bogey were however left untouched.

With the 13th general election looming and being touted as the nation’s most pivotal political bout, the bloodletting of 1969 had cropped up with increasing frequency, especially with the Chinese having turned their backs on the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition as evident in their voting trend.

And in the forefront of this bandwagon was Perkasa, the self-appointed vanguard of the Malay race in Malaysia.

In a recent article published on its website, the writer had accused DAP’s Lim Kit Siang of being the prime mover behind the racial riots.

The article was accompanied by a macabre montage depicting the veteran politician with a bloody hand print in the background and blood dripping over his face, with the words “13 Mei”.

The article claimed that the opposition leader later sang a different tune, saying that DAP was willing to work with BN to ensure that such a tragic episode did not recur.

“His aim was to put a lid on his cardinal sin as the main force [pengerak utama] behind May 13 and to wash his hands of the blood of the innocent victims [of the riots],” it read.

The article, titled “Kit Siang pernah halau Melayu dari Kg Baru”, was penned in reaction to Lim’s vexed response to the accusation that DAP was infiltrated by Communist elements.

Delving into the history of DAP’s formation, the article stated that since its inception, the party had close ties with Singapore’s People’s Action Party or PAP.

Following Singapore’s departure from the Federation, the article said DAP was formed with Lim, who was said to share family ties with Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, being one of the pioneers.

“There is not much difference between DAP and PAP. So it does not come as a surprise that the new generation of DAP leaders like Lim’s son Guan Eng continue the tradition of ‘worshipping’ PAP,” it added.

The ‘big headed’ Chinese

Following the 1969 general election, the article stated that DAP and Gerakan (which was then an opposition party) grew arrogant after securing a huge victory in Selangor.

“DAP used the freedom of expression without limits to condemn and insult the Malays during a mammoth rally in Kuala Lumpur which saw them bring banners and loud-hailers.

“It had only been 12 years since the Chinese were accorded full citizenship based on one of the conditions set forth by the British and they [the Chinese] had grown big headed,” it read.

Citing a report by the National Action Council then, the article said it was found that DAP’s street procession in which racist sentiments were spewed against the Malays was the catalyst behind the racial riots.

Interestingly, the article stated that 2,000 lives were lost in the riots despite official statistics placing the death toll at under 200 amidst claims that it was an attempt to downplay the incident.

According to the article, the slogan bandied about by Lim and the other Chinese leaders in DAP during their procession was “Malai si which meant ‘Mati Melayu’ [Malays are dead].”

The fact was, claimed the article, DAP cannot change to become a party which would champion the rights of the Malays and Bumiputera “because racism runs deep in its veins”.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

” The fact was, claimed the article, DAP cannot change to become a party which would champion the rights of the Malays and Bumiputera “because racism runs deep in its veins”. “

Tsk! RK Anand’s line reads no better being racism by neglect of consideration that all citizens have the same rights under law and that Bumiputra Special Privileges were as per the Reid Commission only allowed to be in place fo 15 years and then reviewed for removal. The way RK Anand speaks, sounds as if Bumiputra was intended to be forever! That is the Social Contract. Equality for all Malaysians AFTER 15 years of Special privileges. How about we have parties that do not champion rights of any race and instead champion rights of MALAYSIAN citizens . . . DAP and PAS get along because of a sense of Fundamentalism. What does RK Anand think of the below and will RK Anand even dare ask for what is merely equality even where Pakatan cynically and unfairly fail to act to ensure what UN and Quran assure all humanity?

The NGOs in Malaysia have found themselves ‘between a ROC and a hard place…’, says Suaram’s adviser Kua Kia Soong.

While the Registrar of Societies may now feign innocence regarding their selectivity in registering societies by questioning Suaram’s registration as a business, let me remind the young generation and those with short memories about our nation’s shortcomings relating to the freedom of association in our recent history.

As you know, ‘Operation Lalang’ was Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s autocracy at its worst when he arrested and detained more than a hundred innocent Malaysians without trial in October 1987.

Upon the release of the last Operation Lalang detainees in 1989, several of these detainees including my goodself and members of the Families Support Group formed this human rights organisation known as Suaram (Suara Rakyat Malaysia). Aware of the obstacles in registering a human rights society under the Registrar of Societies, Suaram registered as a business under the Registrar of Business.

At the time, another human rights organisation, Hakam had taken more than two years to be registered in 1989 even though it boasted two former prime ministers (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn) as its patrons. It had tried unsuccessfully several times to register as a society in the eighties.

The Malaysian chapter of Amnesty International also tried unsuccessfully for five years to register as a society under the Societies Act. Two applications and an appeal to the Home Minister were also rejected.

Consequently, quite a number of NGOs decided that in order to carry out their services to society, they had no choice but to register as businesses.

So why is there a sudden interest in Suaram’s status after its 23 years’ existence? Is it coincidental that this has arisen out of our recent request to the French judicial system to pursue suspected commissions embroiled in the RM7 billion Scorpene submarine deals?

It is no secret

Given the difficulties created by the Societies Act, some non-governmental organisations, including Suaram decided to register as companies or businesses.

As the corporate gurus say, “If something is not working, do something else.” Or, as Deng Xiaoping famously said, “It does not matter if the cat is white or black, as long as it catches the mice.” The mice, in the case of NGOs, are defending human rights, democracy and social justice.

NGOs registering as companies were certainly not a secret. In fact, in early 1997 the government threatened to force all NGOs to register under the Societies Act. Nonetheless, registration as a company has not completely protected NGOs from harassment by the government, as the recent intrusion by the SSM into Suaram’s accounts has demonstrated.

In 1996, the Institut Pengajian Komuniti (IPK), an NGO taking up the issue of rights of indigenous peoples in Sarawak was de-registered by the Registrar of Business over a legal technicality.

The ROC’s Tenaganita fiasco

In 1997, the Registrar of Companies raided the offices of Tenaganita, the NGO that had exposed inhuman conditions in immigrant detention centres, and confiscated their documents.

Tenaganita and two directors were subsequently charged in court in March 1997 under the Companies Act for late filing of audited financial statements of 1994. And most unusual was the fact that the charges were prosecuted by a Deputy Prosecutor from the Attorney-General’s Chambers instead of the usual officers of the Registrar.

The charges were subsequently withdrawn on July 9, 1997 when it was pointed out in court that the Registrar had already compounded the offences and accepted payment of a fine through Tenaganita’s accountants.

Then on Sept 5, 1997, the Registrar again issued fresh charges against Tenaganita and two directors on minor technicalities. This time around, the Registrar refused to compound the alleged offences for a fine.

After Tenaganita mounted a legal challenge to the prosecutions alleging mala fide prosecution, the charges were withdrawn on Nov 25, 1997.

As you can see, NGOs in Malaysia have found themselves “between a ROC and a hard place…”

PSM’s Greek tragedy

Opposition political parties have fared no better. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) only obtained its legal registration as a political party in 2008, 10 years after it first filed its application. The entire saga endured by PSM in its struggle to be registered reads like a Greek tragedy in modern Malaysia.

And of course, the Registrar of Societies can feign selective outrage yet again: “Wasn’t the Malaysian Indian United party (MIUP), whose founding leader is S Nallakaruppan swiftly registered in October 2007, just five months after he quit PKR in May 2007?”

“You mean the party that pledged to work closely with, and give its support to, the ruling BN coalition? Yes, we believe the ROS acted expeditiously on their application…”

Restrictions to the fundamental right to freedom of association are also imposed on trade union officials through the Trade Unions Act. Today, less than 10 per cent of Malaysian workers are unionised compared to more than 60 per cent at the time of Independence. What a transformation indeed!

Inspecting the good guys

We stress that the entire charade by the government to harass Suaram through a complaint by some nonentity in the public and CCM’s ‘routine’ inspection is political and uncalled for.

We do not even know if the complaint was made officially to the CCM. It would appear that the CCM is acting on every single complaint (offical or otherwise) from the public at a highly efficient rate.

We question if there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within CCM that provides guidelines on receiving and acting on a complaint.

We also question whether or not the SOP requires the CCM to first verify the background of the complainant prior to receiving and acting on a complaint.

From the evidence in the Paris (Scorpene Scandal) Papers, one would have expected that the CCM would know its priorities and begin “routinely inspecting” the highly dubious activities and accounts of Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Sdn Bhd, but have they?

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Show us that people who can look like so-called ‘leaders’ are able to do good and not merely ask for funeral funds. Run for election as an independent candidate Kua Kia Song.

‘As for the technicality of registration’, my dear Perfessher, there is no need for that. A statuary declaration to abide by certain items for any group of candidates is all thats needed. ROS which is being a problem and obviously less than neutral becomes a perfunctory body that can be safely ignored and bypassed (in a neutral ROS peopled by neutral people that may not be the case but in Malaysia, very much so), political parties are an instrument of control. The technicality and illusion of a ‘great party’ of unity is to con the people with. The people however do not care about political parties anymore. All want to be entertained and all want social freedoms. If an independent candidate or a group of independant candidates runs for election, can give that, as opposed to a oh-so-unified party controlled by an undemocratic term limitless supremo who fears activists and independent minded persons so much they would prefer to sabotage and poison and drug then label these potential competitors as insane, guess who the people would rather vote for? Taking the above into consideration, the ROS is absolutely redundant when faced with independent candidates.

Conform much Dr. Kua? Even the below commentator thinks more outside the box that this preconceived acceptance of ROS and being in a political party to participate in democratic processes! Looks very much like so but all PHd. holders are brainwashed confirmists to a degree . . . there is no need to belong to a political party or need association with the ROS. And all MPs and Assemblymen should GTFO of Dewan to allow the next generation of people to take over and perhaps even like Tunku Abdul Rahman did specifically – FOR FREE not asking for state funds. Wanna join 3rd Force on this premise? To not collect a single cent of salary like Tunku Abdul Rahman, AND leave after 2 terms? Now THAT would be statesmanship! Not the shameless demands for 750K funerals, pretenses about normalcy of family bloc term limitlessness ,or morons impressed by the concept of political parties and the need for ROS controlling whether or not a group of people may peacefully engage in democratic processes like politics.

ROS is not worth talking to because ROS is so un-neutral – totally idiotic ROS won’t even let a political party choose a logo IN THIS DAY OF CUSTOMISATION, DISALLOWING LOGO CHOICE IS TOO IDIOTIC AND BACKWARD!!! ROS is absolutely dictatorial and BACKWARD ! Let a particular logo of free choice represent a statuary declaration that all ‘unaffiliated independent’ candidates have signed, and let the ‘unaffiliated independent’ candidates wear a button badge that features the logo, or insert that logo in every public photo. There, ROS refusal to register party and logo problem solved.

Break the mold or be broken by the mold! Lets make this square (w)hole!

Commentator Comments :
…
written by A Bolehlander, July 31, 2012 14:42:21
ROC often expound that they are merely handling the registers and not a regulator (that’s when you lodge a complain over something and they refuse to take any action). Good reason why a change of governance is necessary. as Tao sage says, if you keep walking the same path, you’ll just continue reaching the same destination. 55 years of strolling down the slope (and gaining momentum too). How about changing the vehicle, the direction and way of doing things, for better or worse, we are sure at least we won’t be going down the same slope, a risk worth taking

…
written by malsia1206, July 31, 2012 14:12:13
The Pedigree in Barisan’s stable – AG, PDRM
The Thorougbreds in Barisan’s stable – EC, MACC
The Lower Liners in Barisan’s stable – ROS, CCM, National Registration, Immigration
The Judiciary is another prime suspect to fit into the upper tier.
That’s the critical setup of this present regime. Keep em all in Putrajaya’s pockets.

…
written by singhkris, July 31, 2012 14:17:06
Why is the Registrar not being challenged in court.

Anyway you continue with your challenge and the case in France. If you have to mount a legal challenge to fend off any trumped up charges, I am sure there are enough Malaysians who will support you financially. Just give a call!

PETALING JAYA, July 31 — PKR today suggested auctioning off Approved Permits (APs) for imported vehicles through an open bidding process in the first three years under Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) rule before abolishing the system entirely in 2015.

The party’s strategy director Rafizi Ramli said this would be on top of PR’s electoral pledge to slash excise duties and to help reduce household debt and boost the disposable incomes of Malaysians.

He told a press conference today that if an estimated 70,000 APs are awarded every year, the auction should fetch nearly RM3 billion in revenue annually for the government.

He said this would help compensate for the RM8 billion in annual losses expected from PR’s plan to slash car excise duties, which currently run as high as 105 per cent.

“Under Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN), the AP system only benefits those who are close to them.

“This is why PKR suggests that the next government, whether or not under BN or PR, must abolish the AP system by 2015 in order to comply by agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA),” he said.

Rafizi pointed out that under the country’s National Automotive Policy (NAP) in 2005, the AP system was supposed to be abolished by December 31, 2010, but was instead extended by five years to 2015.

He said Malaysians must be reminded of this, as the system was meant to help Bumiputera entrepreneurs to flourish in the automotive industry.

“In his Budget 2010 speech, (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib Razak annnounced that every AP will be sold for RM10,000 and funds from them will be channelled to a special Bumiputera entrepreneur fund.”

Rafizi said that in 2011 alone, some 600,123 new cars were registered. Of that total, he said 533,515 units were manufactured and assembled in Malaysia, which meant that some 66,608 APs were issued for imported vehicles.

He said if APs were sold at RM10,000 each, the government should have spent RM666 million to help Bumiputera entrepreneurs from the fund.

“But until today, we still do not know what has happened to that fund or how funds from the sale of APs have been spent,” he said.

“This is why PKR suggests that the next government adheres to the commitment to abolish the AP system by 2015. But for the first three years from 2013 to 2015, necessary measures must be taken to ensure that we get the best value from the APs issued through this open auction,” he said.

Rafizi suggested that the opening bid for the auction of an AP should be set at RM10,000 for fuel-saving vehicles, RM20,000 for regular vehicles and RM30,000 for higher capacity vehicles.

He said with the estimated revenue from the auction, PR’s plan to reduce car prices by slashing excise duties would be easier to implement as it would compensate for the RM8 billion drop in government revenue.

“At the same time, our tax revenue from other means would also increase because when we return RM8 billion into the pockets of Malaysians, this would in turn be pumped back into the economy,” he pointed out.

PKR had last week promised not to impose new taxes to compensate for any potential loss of revenue from its plan to shelve excise duties to lower the sticker price of cars if it takes power in the next elections.

Malaysians pay inordinately high prices for cars mainly because of the protection afforded to national carmaker Proton since 1984.

The public pays import, excise and sales taxes that translate into some of the highest car prices in the region and the world.

A recent income survey found that a household earning RM3,000 a month could spend up to 50 per cent of its income on maintaining a car.

A cut in car duties — which currently run as high as 105 per cent — could help stimulate the economy by boosting disposable income and reducing household debt burden, analysts have also told The Malaysian Insider.

The high taxes now have resulted in about 20 per cent of the RM581 billion total household debt in the country last year being held in cars, an asset that depreciates over time.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“At the same time, our tax revenue from other means would also increase because when we return RM8 billion into the pockets of Malaysians, this would in turn be pumped back into the economy,” he pointed out. Exceptional . . . LIKE! Frankly the above logic could be applied to almost every other tax or fee or toll or even road tax. The money should be flooating in the system not sequestered by government departments to ‘spend on our behalf’, we can do the spending instead of passing the money to the government to spend ‘for us’. Oh and remember Encik Ramli, – 2 TERMS ONLY, then GTFO of the Dewan and let another try their hand at governance before nepotistic family blocs form, power madness or corruption begins – AGAIN.

“This is why PKR suggests that the next government, whether or not under BN or PR, must abolish the AP system by 2015 in order to comply by agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA),” he said. “This is why PKR suggests that the next government adheres to the commitment to abolish the AP system by 2015. But for the first three years from 2013 to 2015, necessary measures must be taken to ensure that we get the best value from the APs issued through this open auction,” he said.

How about abolishing the AP system immediately? But Pakatan would rather not educate the citizens or voters on how (lets say at 3 APs per receipient) AP enriches 23,000 or less cronies while the rest of the populace has to pay these 23,000 people who doubtless will Pakatan voters and supporters! This is unjust and, 23K people will be enriched at the expense of everyone else . . . thats 0.1% out of 26+ million citizens. Who is stupid enough to support this sort of thing? Just scrap the AP system, this is stealing from BN to enrich PR! Drop the pretence and WORK or do business or what not. AP is RENT-SEEKING plain and simple – for 23,000 CRONIES!!! Want to do something real? Allow car modders to indulge their modifications and see a boom in the most important lower end economy of garage owners and small accessory or customisable part imports, REAL work and REAL economy, not this 23K cronies get rent seeking money justified by bad laws.

Then remove Road Toll Concessionaires or limit charges to no more than 10% of month salaries at most! This way disposable income will not end up in ‘Toll Booth Corp’ or what not crony company! PAS not talking about bulldozing Tolls anymore? Greed got to them then? During the Prophet’s time, EVERYONE travelled for free, and the only people who stopped others and asked for money were HIGHWAY ROBBERS or BEGGARS which are now legitimized into the toll booth form! Even beggars are rich (though they pretend to be poor) and highway robbers have moved to high tech or less risky or more people friendly ways of making cash – like targeting the wealthy, ripping out ATMs and stealing cars for parts! The Toll Booth structure is too much like PROTECTION MONEY and gangsterism! Even gangsters prefer to set up their own pubs or mini-casinos (LEGALIZE THIS non-Muslim ENTERTAINMENT – Issue Mini Licenses . . . or run for candidacy as indies who will! ) instead than need to go door to door demanding cash. So think how unpleasant and lowly Toll Booths are in the eyes of the Rakyat (For the ‘adventurous’, how about – – – – ing the Toll Booth as well . . . ). Start bulldozing the Toll Booths or limiting the charges to no more than 10% of income at most . . .

Rafizi pointed out that under the country’s National Automotive Policy (NAP) in 2005, the AP system was supposed to be abolished by December 31, 2010, but was instead extended by five years to 2015.

The whole point of AFTA is do remove red tape and make the burden less on the consumers. These delays are intolerable. And no matter what way they present Vehicular AP, BN or PR, there is no wealth being spread here, but rent seeking and parasitism of political parties off ordinary citizens! These guys also do know that Bumiputra Apartheid was supposed to be ended in 1976 but to honestly concede, some of us are aware of how entrenched and stagnant the shameful AP mentality is now. 3 years eh? But what about completing the end of the Reid Commission’s near 60 year postponed review like gentlemen who can keep their word? The Malay leader who speaks about this would gain the respect of the international community – the above is more compromise and pandering to weakness than progress but that Reid Commission Review cannot be ignored any more. Will 3rd Force win on the back of this against BN and Pakatan failures to address? Pakatan must be aware that the very same could be given by BN IMMEDIATELY or in a statuary declaration by 3rd Force indie candidates as well. So how about making moves to ensure tha 30-40% non-Malay demographic as well with something definitive towards :

BESUT, Aug 2 — A civil servant allegedly threatened his neighbour with a paintball gun in Kampung Raja here, after his child was awakened by fireworks yesterday afternoon.

He was later detained by police at 11.25 pm last night.

“The 44-year-old suspect went to the victim’s house about 12.30 pm and threatened to shoot him with a paintball gun,” Besut police chief Supt Kamaruddin Zakaria told Bernama here today.

The victim, a 35-year-old labourer, lodged a report at the village police station the same evening, he added.

“We also seized a paintball gun at the suspect’s house,” he said.

Kamaruddin said the suspect was detained for criminal intimidation under the Penal Code and for not having a licence for the gun. — Bernama

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Any person with common sense would be laughing if someone threatened with a paintball gun and invite the person to a paintball game or match. Seized a paintball gun? Licensing is needed for a painball gun?!? So will a can of paint be considered similar to a grenade? I think the cops need to go after those with real illegal weapons instead. PB guns are toys. Fireworks in residential areas (especially at certain hours) are an offense though. Commercial areas, not really. The police sure this arrest or even this Penal Code is correct or makes sense?

ARTICLE 12

We are Malay-Muslims, we are entitled (the author is being sarcastic) 1 August 2012 | Why You Can, I Cannot? | Posted by Syahredzan Johan

Syahredzan Johan asks during this holy month, are Malay-Muslims entitled to better rights than others?

So you are fasting. The sun is bearing down on you, your stomach is growling and your throat is parched. It is only 12.30 in the afternoon; you still have hours to go before you may break your fast. All of a sudden, a non-Muslim person appears before you, enjoying an icy cold can of your favourite cola. He looks like he is savouring the cola. You could imagine the sensation of that very same cola filling your throat with diabetes-inducing caffeine goodness. So you flare up. How dare this person drink in front of you? Does he have no respect for the holy month of Ramadhan, to be wantonly quenching his thirst in full view of Muslims? Does he not know that Muslims form the majority of this country and therefore must be respected?

This is the basic premise prevalent amongst many Malay-Muslims in this country. Muslims form the majority and therefore they are entitled to be respected. Malay-Muslim sensitivities must not be offended; the Malay-Muslim public must be protected from harm, confusion and many other bad and insidious things that may threaten the ummah. In recent times, these deep rooted sentiments are brought to the fore by opportunistic politicians. Thus it appeared as if Malay-Muslims have become more and more intolerant of minorities.

Malay-Muslims are entitled not to have a Hindu temple in the vicinity of their housing estate. Malay-Muslims are entitled to dictate what names others may invoke the Creator. Malay-Muslims are entitled to stop the sale of alcohol beverages and deny the establishment of a cinema in Malay majority areas.

Every Friday, Malay-Muslims are entitled to abandon their civic consciousness and park all over the place as if the streets belong to them. Malays-Muslims are entitled to blare religious ceramahs to every corner of the neighbourhood and into the wee hours of the night.

The prime minister must be Malay-Muslim, the civil service must be filled with Malay-Muslims and government bodies are seen as Malay institutions, tasked first and foremost to safeguard Malay and Muslim interests.

This premise of entitlement has also been used to justify the persecution and discrimination against sexual and religious minorities, purportedly because Article 3 provides that Islam is the religion of the Federation. So we say that LBGTs do not enjoy protection of the Constitution because their sexual orientations are against Islam, although we conveniently forget that other things, like gambling, are also forbidden in Islam but are still legal in this country. Books are seized and banned and fatwas are made absolute. In a recent decision, the Federal Court went so far to say that the integrity of the religion needs to be safeguarded at all costs. Does ‘at all costs’ include the supremacy of the Federal Constitution as the highest law of the land?

Make no mistake, this is not about Islam. It is about how we justify the discrimination, persecution and blatant disregard for fundamental liberties, all in the name of religion. It is how we view and treat others as inferior to us because we believe that we are entitled to do so. We permit transgressions because we labour under this presumption that Malay-Muslims, by virtue of being Malays and Muslims, are entitled to the best of the country as they occupy a higher standing than the rest of the rakyat out there.

There is no legal or constitutional basis for this. Article 3 does not make Malaysia an Islamic state and Article 4 expressly provides that the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Article 8 provides that every citizen is equal before the law and enjoys equal protection of the law. The oft quoted Article 153 does not make Malay-Muslims superior in law or fact, it only provides for the reservation of quotas for Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak in certain matters.

So what if Muslims are the majority? We have such a flawed understanding of democracy; as if in a democracy, the rights of minorities are inferior to the rights of the majority. That is why we have a Constitution, which protects and guarantees the fundamental liberties of citizens from the tyranny of the majority.

We find ourselves up in arms at the fate of Muslims minorities in other countries like Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar and China. We invoke freedom of religion when we hear of minarets being banned in Switzerland or burqas being banned in France. But if the rights of Muslim minorities should be protected in the face of the majority, why is it that we do not have the same vigour to protect the rights our non-Muslim minorities? Why must the rights of others here only be exercised if we deem those rights as exercisable?

So before you take offence at someone who is drinking in front of you while you are fasting, take a step back and think of your religion. Put aside your sense of entitlement and think; just because you are fasting, does it mean that everyone else around you must stow away their food and drinks?

Posted on 1 August 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.

Read more articles posted by Syahredzan Johan.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Apply accordingly the laws. In China or India, does a Malay or Muslim who is a full citizen have full access to whatever social services or some acronym b.s. government outfit funded equally from all tax payers? So in Malaysia, the same can only be applied on Chinese or Indian. This Syahredzan Johan writer sounds like an MP worthy sort, do run for private candidacy if able to endorse :

I believe that parallel comparisons of policy and constitution in Malaysia to India, and Malaysia to China, will confirm that the Indian and Chinese citizens here in Malaysia are getting a very bad deal – social and economic apartheid, and that the Indian or Chinese reps. (out of sheer greed or fear and cowardice) here have failed their duty as ‘leaders’ of their commmunities for allowing APARTHEID while the Malay MPs have been complict in not acting against such ill natured and shameful policy.

Selected Commentator Comments :

@starranise – 1 August 2012 – 5:54 pm

Apologising to all Muslims during Ramadhan when you have done nothing wrong is unnecessary. It is your right to eat or drink whenever you choose. You’re not the one fasting. Resisting temptations is one of the fundamental motives behind fasting. It is part of a Muslim’s trial. If they are offended or angry with you, they are jeopardising their own fast. Food and drink are secondary to the process of fasting. It is discipline, patience, consideration, empathy, feeling at peace with oneself and the people around you. That’s the deeper meaning of Ramadhan.

KUALA LUMPUR- Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew of DAP was taken to task by a MCA leader yesterday for not explaining why there was a growing number of illegal massage parlours operating in Selangor.

MCA Selangor liaison committee secretary Wong Kun Moon claimed that since DAP and its allies took over the state in 2008, the number of massage parlours had increased from 800 to 4,000.

“Liu had repeatedly denied this during state assembly sessions by saying that the previous administration under Barisan Nasional had put a freeze on the applications of new massage parlours since 2006.

“However, despite the freeze, about 3,200 illegal centres are now operating in the state,” Wong said when contacted yesterday.

(Liu is the Selangor executive council member in charge of Local Government, Research and Development and also Pandamaran assemblyman.)

Wong said several Selangor leaders, including Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong, had queried Liu over the rising number of illegal massage parlours in the state.

“Every time the issue is raised, Liu will put the blame on the previous BN-led Selangor government.”

According to Wong, there were about 4,000 massage parlours operating in the state and a majority of them had no licence.

“There are more than 400 illegal centres operating in Klang alone. If Liu is sceptical, I urge him to take a look for himself and to stop lying.”

Wong, who is also Kuala Kubu Baru assemblyman, also urged Liu to clarify the matter by disclosing the number of massage parlours approved by the state government since 2008.

“The Selangor government has the authority to issue permits for these parlours, but its failure to enforce its rules over these centres has resulted in the rise of social problems.”

Wong also challenged Liu to prove he was not colluding with the owners of such centres “for his own personal benefit”.

He was referring to an incident on Nov 2, 2007, where Liu was accused of inciting the staff and customers of a hotel in Puchong to prevent a Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) enforcement officer from performing his duties.

In the anti-vice operation, police and MPSJ officers had raided the unlicensed hotel and detained 22 foreign prostitutes, including 12 male patrons.

In response to the allegations, Liu told Wong to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims and challenged him to disclose the list of the 4,000 massage parlours within 24 hours.

– New Straits Times

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

We may not like Ronnie Liu supporting nepotism (close 1 eye mentality to democracy killing nepotism by Ronnie shows unethical mindset), but in this case let the people hang around these supposedly illegal bars instead of getting bored which leads to all kinds of negative behaviour. Make drinks cheap so they will be drinking instead of robbing to pay for expensive drinks. Legalise small-bet casinos and RLDs or Organics Psychedelics Bars so that they will be playing games and f- – – ing, or getting pleasantly stoned (price controls on organics please, these things grow FOR FREE and cost nothing!!! Prohibition mindset causes crime and high prices.) Instead of robbing people and burgling homes. Take away the entertainment districts at your own risk fools.

Guess who the first people they target will be? The MPs, Assemblymen, EXCOs, Residents Committees, even the people who set customs duties and tax levels (too damn high) and any law makers who took away their entertainment or made entertainment too expensive . . . on top of apartheid and extreme religion the Malaysian Fed Gov. want to take away places of entertainment? The Malaysian Fed Gov. must be insane . . . run for election and remove these red tape extremists and moralists. There are fun loving people who are not Muslims that need their spaces for entertainment too. Licence and legalize instead of creating more dangerous urban environments by boring the citizens out of their minds AMEND LAWS or GTFO of Dewan! . . .

ARTICLE 14

Fined for offensive weapon possesion, failure to produce IC – Thursday, August 02, 2012 – 15:48 – by Bernama
A MECHANIC was fined RM1,000, in default a month’s jail, by the Magistrate’s Court here today for possession of an offensive weapon in front of a hotel here last week.

Magistrate Azmil Muntapha Abas handed down the sentence on Mohamad Audadi Mad Sarmor, 24, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

He was charged with having an iron knuckle duster in front of GEA Hotel, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Dang Wangi here at 2.20am last July 27.

Azmil Muntapha also fined another RM1,000, in default a month’s jail, for failing to produce his identity card or personal documents when requested by the police at the same place, time and date.

Azmil Muntapha allowed him bail of RM4,000 in one surety and set Sept 10 for mention.

Earlier, Zuraimi requested bail at RM5,000, but Johan, who was unrepresented, requested for a lower bail, saying that he had five children, including a two-year-old, and was the sole breadwinner.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

A knuckle duster is no less dangerous than any metal components or machine parts that can act like knuckledusters, or a glass bottled drink, any table wear or a heavy handbag filled with coins. Even a heavy chain for locking up gates is as dangerous. This is not a very good law. Then also the IC which is overkill. The police could ask the person to go home and pick up the IC instead of fining the person. 1000 is alot of money for most of the lower income types! Even 50 is alot . . . Actually knuckle dusters are manly accessories much like large steel rings set with large faceted stones on every finger.

Illegal to wear large rings on every finger then?

Even a steel weight for training could become a weapon more dangerous than a knuckle duster. How could the law be so unreasonable? Leave the ‘cool guys’ alone until they actually hurt someone. Just because someone forgot an IC or wore a knuckle duster does not entitle the state to treat them so badly or take awat so much money from them, inconvenience them with the court etc… The police are men too are they not? So don’t oppress your fellow men. These are MALE accessories. Surely the police have male relatives that keep their sense of ‘macho’ in an item or few on their person at all times? Amend all these chilling effect laws immediately! By this sort of logic, might as well ban motor vehicles, which possibly account for as many if not most of the injuries and deaths world wide overall . . .

Hardly weapons, but cool looking accessories . . . some handbags also incorporate knuckle dusters into the handles as a design statement.

ARTICLE 15

Several DAP Indian leaders furious at being left out – Sunday, 05 August 2012 Super Admin

(The Star) – Several DAP Indian leaders are furious after reports of their activities were conspicuously missing from the inaugural issue of the party’s Tamil newsletter, Makkal Kural (Peoples’ Voice).

They said only programmes of selected leaders were given prominence in the eight-page newsletter, which is distributed free.

There was also a question-and-answer with Kulasegaran and a one-page report on former Hindraf leader V. Ganabatirau.

Conspicuously missing were reports on DAP deputy secretary-general Dr P. Ramasamy and other Indian elected MPs and state assemblymen from the party.

DAP Bagan division assistant secretary G. Asoghan said many questioned why the newsletter did not carry reports of other DAP Indian leaders.

“This newsletter is for distribution to the Indian voters. We have to show what our (Indian) leaders have achieved to be able to convince them to support us,” he said.

“Anyone reading the newsletter will have the impression that Ambiga is a DAP leader. It is our own newsletter and we must highlight our leaders,” he said.

Pahang vice-chairman J. Appala-samy said he was surprised as he had compiled the reports of the various Indian leaders.

“None was used. For me, it was a waste of time,” he said.

A national DAP official said there would always be complaints but they will look into it.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Several Indian leaders could set up an alternative Indian based party not beholden to the term limitless DAP Karpal family bloc nor lapdogs that accept apartheid like MIC. How about teaming up with Hindraf? DAP always glory hogs, and DAP is infected by PAP-USA-Zionist mentality. How about a 3rd Force NEUTRAL party? Look at Konsensus Bebas which is daring enough to kick Pakatan where deserved by leaving and setting up their own (unfortunately very likely lapdog party – as claimed by RPK had received millions in bribes to defect – that has not spoken against APARTHEID). In these few Indian leaders’ case, seperate from DAP and set up a 3rd Force Party working towards :

Konsensus Bebas might yet drop alliance with BN and with several Indian leaders here, a viable party in Penang could be set up to remove BOTH Pakatan’s nepotist gloryhog cliques and BN’s racists. The Rakyat should already be clear enough that the term limitless creeps hjave been in power too long, now punish Pakatan and DAP by dropping the undemocratic and sidelining freaks. Local intelligensia can dedicate efforts to Pakatan but not even the courtesy of an invitation to join or response. Indian leaders here, do you know how to respond to DAP’s Rakyat unfriendly and politically-door-closing sidelining behaviour?

Well, in case you have not realised, Yang Berhormat, not only same-sex marriages, as you said, erode the family institution. Sex outside marriage does as well. And there are many more Malaysians bonking outside marriage than Malaysians entering same-sex marriages. So why aren’t you appealing to all Malaysians to ‘protest en masse’ regarding this? This is a bigger problem than same-sex marriages.

(Bernama) – Malaysians of all races should protest en masse the practice of same sex marriages as they would erode the family institution, advised Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

Commenting on the recent wedding reception here of Malaysian gay Christian priest, Ngeo Boon Lin and his musical producer partner, Phineas Newborn III, who were married in New York last year, he said that even the Christians in the country prohibited such practices.

“The reception portrayed Malaysian society as confused. It’s clear their motive was to fight for gay rights,” he said.

He was speaking a press conference after breaking fast with the Department and agencies’ staff at the National Mosque, here.

**************************************

There are five references in the Qur’an regarding gay behaviour. The two main references to homosexual behaviour are:

“We also sent Lut : He said to his people : “Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.” Qur’an 7:80-81

“What! Of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk.” Qur’an 26:165

Both these verses refer to gay sexual activities involving men. Gay sexual activities involving women or lesbian practices are not mentioned in the Qur’an. There is at least one mention of lesbian behaviour in the Hadith, though. However, while traditionalist orthodox Muslims regard the Hadith as the authentic sayings of Prophet Muhammad, liberal Muslims doubt their authenticity. And some sects of Islam reject the Hadith totally or have a different version of the Hadith.

In many Muslim countries, homosexuality is condemned and subject to legal punishment. The specific punishment varies among jurists, ranging from jail time and/or flogging to the death penalty. In Islam, capital punishment is reserved only for the most grievous crimes that would hurt society as a whole. Some jurists place homosexuality under that category, particularly in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen etc.

Arrest and punishment for homosexual crimes, however, are not frequently carried out because Islam also places a strong emphasis on an individual’s right to privacy. If a ‘crime’ is not committed in the public sphere, it is largely overlooked as being a matter between the individual and God.

Now, is that clear, especially to the non-Muslims reading this piece? In short, a crime that is damaging to society is taken seriously and the punishment is severe. A crime that does not affect society and is committed behind closed doors is between you and God.

One very important aspect of Islam is: a person’s privacy must be respected and you should not spy on your neighbour. Spying on your neighbour is a bigger sin than the sin committed by your neighbour behind closed doors.

Now, why is the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, so kaypoh about what others do? Whatever perceived sin the Christian priest, Ngeo Boon Lin, and his partner, Phineas Newborn III, did was done outside Malaysia. Even if a crime had been committed it was done so outside Malaysia’s jurisdiction. If these two had committed a crime then let the US punish them since they did it on US soil. What next does the Minister want to do? Peep on Malaysians in the UK who do not pray and fast and drink beer? Do you think Scotland Yard has no other problems to deal with?

If you were to ask a Muslim what is Islam all about, he or she would reply that Islam is about justice. If you were to ask a Muslim who may support the Islamic Sharia laws, in particular that branch of the Sharia called Hudud, he or she would reply: because the Sharia and Hudud is about justice.

Islam And Obsession of Muslims With Sex (and homosex)

But why do the religious scholars and politicians always and only talk about sex?

Islam is supposed to be about justice. But they talk as if Islam is only about sex. Everything that comes out of their mouths is about sex. I am yet to hear anyone talk about justice. It is always about sex. You are giving people the impression that Islam is so focused on sex that sex has become an obsession to Muslims.

Okay, Islam is against homosexuality. I am not going to deny that fact. But Islam also says that what you do behind closed doors is between you and God. Islam also says you should not spy on your neighbour or peep into your neighbour’s house. Islam also says that what you do in your home is your business as long as what you do does not hurt society. Only if it hurts society should we be concerned, even if it is done in the privacy of your home and office.

So, what are these crimes that do affect society and which we should be concerned about even if committed in the privacy of your home and office, and which the Minister should be talking about? Well, what about bribery, corruption, abuse of power, mismanagement of the country’s (meaning taxpayers’) resources, police violence, manipulation of the judiciary, cronyism, nepotism, racism, persecution, denial of someone’s fundamental rights, etc? There are loads and loads of sins and crimes that affect society and which Islam forbids. And on a list of 100 such sins and crimes, homosexuality sits at the bottom of that list. Yet we talk about the bottom 100th and not the top 99.

What is wrong with Muslims? They turn Islam into a religion of ridicule. And when people ridicule Islam these Muslims get angry. They threaten revenge and bloodshed. They demand death for those who insult Islam and/or Prophet Muhammad.

How do you expect people not to insult Islam if the Muslims themselves make a mockery of Islam? When you act like a lunatic of course people are going to call you a lunatic. And when Muslims act like lunatics you can expect non-Muslims to say that Islam is a bad religion.

You are demanding for non-Muslims to respect Islam. But how can you expect them to respect Islam when Muslims themselves act disrespectfully toward their own religion. You are turning Islam into a circus with the things you are doing and saying. And when people laugh you get angry.

Malaysians of all races should protest en masse the practice of same-sex marriages as they would erode the family institution, advised the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

Well, in case you have not realised, Yang Berhormat, not only same-sex marriages, as you said, erode the family institution. Sex outside marriage does as well. And there are many more Malaysians bonking outside marriage than Malaysians entering same-sex marriages. So why aren’t you appealing to all Malaysians to ‘protest en masse’ regarding this? This is a bigger problem than same-sex marriages.

Bangang sungguh menteri Melayu ni!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This above is the ‘cleaned up version’ as far as I can note. Read the original littered with propaganda and NLPs at :

Also there are also some who actually tolerate or turn a blind eye to what their wives do for some emotional reasons, or for the sake of keeping appearances for their young or (familial stability craving) children (in this case the Syariah Courts and Islam have no right to destroy such private efforts to keep face or contrived respectability). In some other cases the older Muslim wife has been ‘given leave’ (verbally or non-verbally the intent is clear) by the husband who has new wives or a mistress even though the libido of the old (or aging) wife is still strong. These sorts of situations probably are met with very insensitive treatment by the Syariah Courts if any, given even that the religious police even target Mat Sallehs (in a most tribal/communal and uneducated manner), who sleep with Malay GROs or even casual sex between races by young persons married (more problematic) or unmarried (still a Human Right, but try broaching this IRL in Malaysia and get some very ugly feelings and looks, even outright violence).

Meanwhile the LGBT community which keeps to themselves is targeted, Muslims are effectively disallowed from going apostate – Inquisition style. Is Malaysia a civil society? Hardly and I’d say the Islamic Al-Azhar University at Cairo needs to send a delegation headed by a ‘Grand Inquisitor’ to address these Syariah and Hudud inspired abuses occuring in Malaysia by gathering all the State Muftis, Imams, Mullahs also Religious Police, any (corrupted as hell, also power mad likely, Federal Department Heads related to Islam) here and TELLING THEM CLEARLY what punishment or enforcement is allowed in Islam, the above examples invlving adultry definitely amounts to abuse – Bumiputra Apartheid IS an abuse.

Note that I do not mention the Sultans who are supposed to be the Heads of the Ummah here but who evidently would retain more dignity if Faith and State were separate . . . given the terrible mess ‘on the ground’ a far cry from insular world they live in (no Muslim would ever broach again, the parochialism in malay society is still medieval and thus the vicious cycles of ‘bohsia’ in abuses of all sorts continues without address) mentioning the same would be a disservice in some ways for certain, let the dirt of politics messed with faith be fronted by the above groups instead . . . doubtless Cairo would find that Malaysia is run as if by medieval era tribal minded barbarian warlords via religious codes, NOT educated and NOT civilised people.

Heck that delegation might even give Nik Aziz flak for views on hudud, specifically limb hacking! How about this ‘clean up’ tour of duty Al Azhar University? Tell Malaysian Muslims right at the top levels how Malay Muslims shame themselves with their ill treatment and abuse of the Ummah and even non-Muslims here! Then also tell these fundo-cases that Malaysia has no right to withhold :

Any honest Muslim cannot deny the points just made above. And Ulama though honest to what the Quran might be in their limited intellect or lack of communication outside their own community (much less internationally o understanding of the UNHCR) to understand or apply, render the Islamic faith in Malaysia dishonest and abusive in effect, especially so in a multipolar, multi faith or multi ethnic society that can only be equal and humane. Want to try what some of us have suffered? So please send that Inquisitor’s delegation from Al-Azhar pronto! Al-Azhar Islamic university in Cairo needs to give BOTH Muslims and non-Muslims a hand here in backward 3rd world, barbaric Malaysia! Get over here, hear out the abused and aggrieved, for those who want to go apostate but DARE NOT, for those who are not allowed non-Muslim rights, and tell these fundo-cases off !

No doubt Islam had Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Father of Modern Turkey, the seat of the Ottoman Empire, who attempted to impose the separation of church and state. Atatürk, however, although viewed as a reformist by those from the west, is viewed as a traitor by most Muslim scholars. In fact, people like the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, label Atatürk as an apostate and one of Islam’s greatest traitors.

(Malaysian Digest) – Do not politicise Islam, as it can lead to disunity.

This was the message sent out by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who said Islam should instead be placed at the highest level so that a lot of problems faced by the Muslim community could be overcome.

“We must not politicise the religion, as Islam is not politics.”

“If politics is made to be above Islam, the Muslim community will be confronted with a lot of problems, causing disunity which today is the source of the community’s weaknesses and the enemies of Islam belittling the religion,” he said in his speech at the at the Quran reciting completion and breaking-of-fast at the Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque, Taman Universiti in Skudai, here, yesterday.

Najib said the Barisan Nasional administration has always prioritised Islam in its governance of the country, and adhered to the requirements of the religion.

“We developed our administration based on syariah and that is the Islamic requirement for us and among the five things we have done is looking after Islam, and that is why Malaysia is known as an Islamic country.”

“We protect the Islamic faith and character, promote the religion, provide Islamic infrastructure and Islamic law and so on,” he said.

Najib said the government’s success in managing Malaysia well, despite facing numerous challenges, was recognised by other Islamic nations to the extent that Malaysia is now the model for a successful Islamic country.

However, he stressed that the government has never neglected the welfare and interest of Malaysians, as it has extended numerous forms of aid, which are not available to people in other countries.

“Last night, I was in Bachok, Kelantan where I found out that there is even aid for disturbance from wildlife, for instance, you can get aid if you’re bitten by a snake. Where else in the world, a government does this?”

“This is a government which takes care of the overall welfare of the people, where we want an Islamic concept and the same time, we want progress and development.”

“We don’t want Islam to be linked to poverty and weakness but to be linked to strength and empowerment because Allah loves people who are successful,” he said.

******************************************

Here we go again. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is preaching Islam to Malaysians. I doubt, however, the ulama’ (religious scholars) would agree with Najib’s prognosis on Islam — if they are honest ulama’, that is. Either Najib has the wrong impression of Islam or he is indulging in wishful thinking.

To understand the present, we need to go back and look at the origins, the origins of religion, that is. Let us start with Christianity and I am going to refer to Britain for purposes of this discussion.

Britain used to be pagan. In the beginning the druids ruled Britain and the Britons worshiped many gods. 50 years or so before the birth of Christ, the Romans invaded Britain and brought their gods to the island, also paganism. This triggered a struggle between the old English gods and the new Roman gods.

Around 400-500 years later, the Romans left Britain and the Saxons and Franks began to migrate to Britain in hordes, as did the Vikings. They too brought their gods. Invariably, Britain saw 500 years of wars between the many kings, as Britain did not have one king but different kings ruled the different regions (at that time there were more kings and gods than virgins in Britain).

In 313, the Emperor Constantine granted the Christians freedom of worship. Thereafter Christianity began to rapidly spread and it was only a matter of time before it reached Britain. Some say Constantine died a Christian while others say he died a pagan (only he would know).

The Britons and Saxons, however, resisted Christianity and it was not until the Christians took up arms that paganism was defeated and replaced with Christianity. Hence Christianity was spread through the use of force.

Around that time, Islam began to establish itself in the Arabian Peninsular and it too began to spread at the point of a sword, just like Christianity had done over 300 years before that. Hence both Islam and Christianity spread the same way, through conquests and persecution.

Eventually, Christendom saw the separation of church and state. But this did not happen overnight. It took more than 1,000 years for that to happen. Islam, however, although it took the same route as Christianity to spread, did not go the same route of separation of church and state, as Christianity had.

In short, both Islam and Christianity started the same way, by the use of force. However, they did not both end up the same way. Christianity the church ‘split’ into two entities while Islam the adeen remained one entity.

No doubt Islam had Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Father of Modern Turkey, the seat of the Ottoman Empire, who attempted to impose the separation of church and state. Atatürk, however, although viewed as a reformist by those from the west, is viewed as a traitor by most Muslim scholars. In fact, people like the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, label Atatürk as an apostate and one of Islam’s greatest traitors.

The notion of separation of church and state is not an acceptable concept in Islam. And any ‘true’ Muslim would agree with this. To disagree would make you a deviant Muslim or a Muslim who is defying God’s command and who is violating the Qur’an.

As I said, Najib either has the wrong impression of Islam or he is indulging in wishful thinking. Islam has not yet gone the way of Christianity in being able to accept the concept of separation of church and state. Will that time ever come? I don’t know but for sure it is not going to happen in our lifetime — so don’t hold your breath or else you might turn blue.

Now, if you are an honest Muslim, you will acknowledge this fact. To argue otherwise means you are not being honest and are trying to mislead the people. So, Najib, are you an honest person or not? And if you can understand this then you might be able to understand PAS as well.

The ulama’ (religious scholars) are out of touch with LIVING reality and obsessed with the afterlife, they do not understand what politicians understand. Najib’s ‘prognosis’ is not necessarily wrong as this is pplicable to the majority portion of LIVING Muslims, and we do know most Muslims ARE NOT focused on the afterlife like the dedicated Ulama. Now if the Muslim population in general thought like Ulama though, Islamic civilisation would not even need sovereign states or kings but only want to be judged as pure and pious, focusing on the afterlife – this would mean that ALL MUSLIMS by now if they were ‘Ulama minded’ or ‘honest Muslim’ would have forgone most earthly trappings for afterlife instead.

Honesty is knowing that Muslims would be destroyed were they ‘Ulama minded’, Islam is a relgion for the old and the dispassionate, and no honest Muslim would be able to progress in most of the ‘modern world’ otherwise. Malays though are ANIMIST originally, and being born in an animist region of the world, will not be likely to pledge allegiance to the far off Kabaa spiritual colony, thus making political relevance always stronger than religious afterlife obsessed Islam’s ‘honesty’. RPK a traditionalist? Well unless Islam is intended to be ‘Amish’ in scope WITH women living like nuns and men quite insular and living within their own comunities, an honest Muslim will be the picture of stagnation . . .

The notion of separation of church and state is not an acceptable concept in Islam BUT necessary if Muslims are to be able to engage the rest of the world, without being able to separate the two we end up with the suicide belt types or extreme among Taliban with honour killings and what not, RPK must understand that this seperation f Church and State is a DEVELOPMENT in Islam, Hadhari if you will (not Badawi’s Hadhari but hadhari nevertheless), Najib is as astute as those writing articles to elicit responses which will be entered simply to enable a large portion of humanity to get along with everyone else. An honest Muslim cannot deny the points just made above. And Ulama though honest to what the Quran might be, are not considering what politicians and the state have to deal with, thus rendering the word of the Ulama dishonest in effect, especially so in a multipolar multi faith or multi ethnic society.

Good meanderings of thought with a skewed stand are better than no meanderings at all RPK . . . but that an article as above would take aging Malay (former) royalty with all the funds and social networks available and an education at University to produce this half baked sort of thought process is telling (what I leave to the reader to decide) . . . If only Najib were less corrupt and UN Human Rights Charter aware, would abolish the apartheid Bumiputra system, and not be enmired in C4 cases would that second term as PM should be assured and allow BN to win, but it is still not too late to endorse :

Politics is dirt and sullies any and all faiths. the sooner Muslims realise this and not be so lazy as to be unable to differentiate the hegelian dialectic of the 2, Malaysia will be a better place. With PM Najib on this statement, but deplore Najib’s inability to implement the above 3 items. RPK, Najib would be one up on a debate about necessity of seperation of state and faith. Not so ‘no holds barred‘ now eh? Establishment poseur . . . change that outdated thinking, or just stay in England and retire among the pseudointellectuals spouting semi intelligent, if not propaganda filled nonsense as above. Some people are good for the country, some people are not.

But that’s just NOT it; Islam IS NOT politics

Still hate LGBT? Or prepared to withdraw an article or few? The older generation is old ! (and full of selfish and self serving contradications)

ARTICLE 18

Note that currently Malaysia makes illegal possession or set-up of your own satellite dish in Malaysia. A person convicted under Section 239 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 can be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed up to two years, or both. Do the Rakyat really want these laws? To enrich Astro and the colluding MPs’ monopoly? Or does the Rakyat prefer the MPs to make this law redundant so that Malaysians can watch everything that is free world wide? why should we pay anything at all to watch what is free after all? Because the Rakyat did not think before voting, the Rakyat did allowed MPs that will keep these idiot laws in place.Iif 222 MPs decide to scrap Section 239 to ALLOW Satellite dishes, Astro could go out of business, and Malaysian television would become even more redundant *BUT* – the Rakyat could access ALL channels world wide without having to pay a single cent. Do you love the Rakyat? Do you want the Rakyat to vote for you? So help the Rakyat end an unnecessary monopoly.

The owner of this dish definitely would not be able to afford ‘Astro’ fees but because the lucky fellers are not in Malaysia’s collusive monopoly minded law writers grips, they get ALL the channels of the world without the government harrassing them. Vote for MPs who will end Section 239!

Voters demand that your MP accede to ending Section 239 before voting for said MP. If the MP will scrap Section 239 the MP is votable. If that MP does not want to, then said MP has been on the take from Astro and does not want freedom of information which a private satellite dish can give. Also remember the items . . . any MP who can sign a statuary declaration to give :

;would likely win enough seats to become PM. Racists and fundos, crony capitalists and ponzi communications companies won’t like the above but the above is the best way forward for Malaysia. Any MP who refuses to scrap Section 239 is UNVOTABLE. Make private satellite dishes legal and stop enriching monopolistic companies that government allows! This is as bad as Anti-Trust or Anti-Monopoly anywhere else! Illegal and an abuse via profiteering off the Rakyat!

More low cost slum dwellers who get to access more of the world’s channels than any Malaysian ever will UNTIL the term limitless nepotist and racist MPs who refuse to remove Section 239 GTFO of Dewan or AMEND and ABOLISH OFFENDING LAWS! 222 Unvotable MPs seating in Dewan!

Marzouki at Oasis: Christians, Muslims, Jews and atheists, all brothers in Tunisia – by Bernardo Cervellera – 06/20/2012 14:50
The Tunisian president reiterates the point that freedom of conscience is the basis of the Jasmine Revolution in his country. This means the right to change religion or have none at all. The transition is difficult in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Arabian Peninsula and Morocco. In such places, conversion and baptism are prevented by fear of what consequences they might entail. However, the Arab revolution has changed people’s mindset, carving greater space for the individual rather than the ‘Ummah’. The West has failed to understand what is taking place.

Tunis (AsiaNews) – The “destiny” of the Arab Tunisian revolution is to welcome “Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists” as “brothers”, everyone with full citizenship. This is the pledge Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki made at the meeting of the Scientific Committee of Oasis currently underway in the Tunisian capital. Marzouki, who was himself a prisoner and an exile because of his activism in the field of human rights, returned home from France at the time the Jasmine Revolution. Last December, he was elected president with a huge majority. Upon hearing about the Oasis meeting, he decided to meet the representatives of the Committee to reassure them that the Arab revolution is not driven by Islamic fanaticism, but by democracy and a desire to integrate the religious rights of communities and the rights of individuals. “Freedom of conscience” would be protected, including the right to change religion or have no religion at all.

Towards freedom of conscience

What the Tunisian president said challenges a (pessimistic) view that is widespread in the West, namely that the Arab revolution is inevitably moving towards the Islamisation of North Africa and the Middle East. Marzouki was critical of this (Islamophobic and neo-colonialist) stereotype that is prevalent in Western media.

Still, some months ago the president did defend the conviction of two men who had been accused of “insulting the sacred” by posting images deemed offensive of Muhammad online. At the same time, he slammed the conviction on “blasphemy” charges of the makers and actors of the movie Persepolis in which God is shown reciting like any other actor.

For Marzouki, such dithering is inevitable in a country negotiating a path towards a certain “balance”. From this point of view, Tunisia’s journey is no different than that of other countries, torn by conflict over the place to be given to the sacred in society.

To illustrate his point, he mentioned the debate in the United States about Article 1 of the constitution (which mentions God the Creator that some would like to remove), abortion and homosexuality, a demonstration by French Catholics against an offensive show, and tensions in Italy over the presence of crucifixes in public places.

As he received a round of applause from those present at the meeting, the president reiterated that the foundations of his country must be freedom of conscience and that religious affiliation is no business of the state.

Social problems in Egypt and Libya

The situation is more contradictory in other countries stirred by the Arab revolution, Egypt above all. Here, a political majority constituted by the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists is engaged in a power struggle with the military and economic power of the Armed Forces.

Various witness who spoke at the conference, including the spokesman of the Egyptian Catholic Church Fr Rafic Greiche and Dominican Fr Jean-Jacques Perennes, noted that many of the promises that came out of Tahrir Square (full citizenship for Christians and Muslims, freedom to build places of worship, an end to discrimination) did not materialise.

Fr Samir Khalil pointed out that in Egypt people voted for Islamic parties because they have no point of reference to decide other than their religious affiliation. What is more, 40 per cent of the population is illiterate.

Nevertheless, speakers said that among Egyptians, people are increasingly wary of “religious” discussions (on what is lawful or unlawful, on anti-Christian bias or morality). A majority of them would like to see political leaders, Muslim included, work to solve problems like unemployment, housing, public transit and education.

Unlike Tunisia, the revolution in Egypt has not moved forward by much. The country is in a stalemate with the military and the Muslim Brotherhood involved in a power struggle.

The same is true about Libya. After the fall of Gaddafi, the country has been affected by low-intensity chaos. Promises of freedom by the National Transitional Council have not yet brought security and peace to Christian communities, constituted mostly by foreign workers, often exploited and without union protection.

The Arabian Peninsula and Morocco

The sorest situation is in the Arabian Peninsula. In places like Saudi Arabia, the revolution was stopped in its track by sticks (repression) and carrots (financial handouts to the population). In the United Arab Emirates, the secret services engaged in “discrete but effective” controls, nipping in the bud any potential demonstration.

The situation of the area’s Christians, all foreigners from India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc, is well known. In Saudi Arabia, they are denied freedom of worship. In the Emirates, they can celebrate Mass, but are denied any public expression of their Christian faith.

Out of fear that even this modest right might be taken away, Christian communities dare not baptise Muslims who might want to join the Catholic Church.

The same is true in Morocco where the Arab Revolution was pre-empted by King Mohammed VI’s attempt at reforms. Under the new constitution, Christians are guaranteed freedom of worship, but here too it would be unthinkable to have Muslims baptised and become Christian. Conversely, in the words of Mgr Vincent Landed, bishop of Rabat, Catholics in the North African country do try to be close to every initiative coming from youth, women and men in search of “peace, justice and reconciliation” in society.

No Syrian representative came to this year’s Oasis meeting, perhaps due to that country’s tense political and humanitarian situation.

For Mgr Philippe Brizard, a former director of Oeuvre d’Orient, the revolution in that country was hijacked by the Gulf States and the West, whose goal is to remove Syria from the Iranian and (Shia) sphere of influence. This has turned the region into an arena for “big power” politics.

Some shared features

The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ has unfolded differently according to the countries it has affected. Results have thus been different, yet they share some features.

Prof Olivier Roy, from the European University in Florence, tried to list a few, noting their stable nature, from which “it is impossible to go back”.

1) First of all, the Arab revolts represent the end of politics centred on a charismatic leader, the saviour of the fatherland;

2) They mark the end of Islamist and pan-Arabist ideologies;

3) Although Islamic groups do exist, the demands for justice, jobs and a good economy have put to an end the slogan ‘Islam is the solution to everything’;

4) A certain patriotism (but not nationalism) has been encouraged and the rhetoric about the Ummah (the world’s Muslim community as a single entity) has been waning;

5) The Palestinian cause has taken a backseat, almost disappearing from slogans;

6) Democracy is seen as “possible”;

7) Islamic societies are undergoing secularisation and there is a growing awareness of the individual (Salafism is a perturbed reaction to this discovery).

For Olivier Roy, the West has failed to understand the Arab revolution. It did not expect it, even though it was entirely predictable in light of the underlying conditions developing in those societies (better educated youth without jobs, better-educated women without rights, a desire for justice against corruption, and more).

Fr Samir Khalil noted that the Arab world also rejects the West, for its alleged irreligiosity and immorality and its “atheistic” separation of religion and state.

Nevertheless, for the Jesuit clergyman, the future of these countries lies in a model of society based on the values of equality (gender, race, social conditions, and religion), solidarity among all citizens, openness to the contributions of all cultures, and a capacity to guarantee tolerance and mutual respect for differences.

An article of hope for a better, more inclusive tolerant Muslim! Just as the Prophet intended. Meanwhile though Islam DOES NOT punish apostasy or disallow non-Muslims from their haram entertainments.

ARTICLE 2

A Clean Break – Posted on June 28, 2012

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for a clean break.

Here’s a nice little quote from a recent article based on the work of the most excellent Grant Smith of IRmep.

Material obtained under FOIA by IRmep reveals that during the same time period Jonathan Pollard was active; American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) officials obtained and used stolen classified US confidential business information passed by an Israeli diplomat. Although industry groups such as the US Bromine Alliance filed formal complaints and the FBI investigated, no action was ever taken. Israeli spy-master Rafael Eitan—mentioned in the DIA video— earlier infiltrated the NUMEC facility in Apollo, Pennsylvania at the invitation of its owner Zalman Shapiro. Although FBI investigators obtained eyewitness affidavits of the mass diversion of weapons-grade uranium from the site, presumably into the Israeli nuclear weapons program, a 1978 GAO report concluded no bona fide effort was ever made to properly prosecute Israel’s US based operatives. Victims of NUMEC toxic pollution are currently filing hundreds of millions in health claims as the US Army Corps of Engineers struggles to manage a toxic cleanup that could cost taxpayers up to half a billion dollars.

Israeli espionage against the United States is long-standing, wide-spread, deeply penetrated into both the public and private sector and inimical to the interests of the citizens of the United States. This espionage activity is often discovered and then covered up. That espionage includes Israel’s getting its hands on nuclear weapons materials to include, but not limited to, uranium – weapons-grade uranium.

Add to that the Lavon Affair and the attack on the USS Liberty and you have not only espionage and theft of nuclear technology but actual military and terrorist attacks.

If Mike Piper is right, you can add to that Israeli participation in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

And lately a very steady and fact-based researcher and writer has been expressing views on at least a couple of interviews he has done recently that Israeli might have had just a bit more than just some foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. If this person is starting to go in that direction, well, I just find that quite interesting.

Now let’s also add to this witch’s brew the fact of the Israeli lobby’s virtual death grip on both houses of Congress and both parties and its deep infiltration of the executive branch at the very highest levels.

Fortunately, the major media outlets, Hollywood and the US financial sector are controlled by Salafists. Imagine if the same elements who have done and continue to do all of the things mentioned above – imagine if they exercised overwhelming control of our media, entertainment and financial industries. We’d really be fucked the, wouldn’t we?

Now as many of you are aware, IRmep has just obtained a Defense Intelligence Agency video about the threat Jonathan Pollard represented to the interests of the United States. That video is on youtube and on the IRmep site.

Here is another quote from a recent Smith article that in my view shows you exactly how pernicious Israeli infiltration into the Obama administration is. Red highlighting is mine.

Less widely known is that Israeli front company Telogy was caught in the summer of 2010 illegally shipping nuclear weapons components out of California to Israel. When such crimes occurred in the past — such as in the case of MILCO smuggling nuclear triggers out of California to Israel — the US at least criminally investigated Israel’s US operatives even while carefully steering around the true masterminds such as Arnon Milchan and high Israeli intelligence officials. In the case of Telogy, the Obama administration simply leaked tidbits of the export violations to friendly press, helpfully allowing Telogy to quickly roll up its illegal US operations.

I find it more than a little interesting that the article that the above quote is taken from is entitled “Why Obama Will Free Jonathan Pollard.”

It’s all about Pollard.

Last November I linked to the Amazon page of this book.

Capturing Jonathan Pollard: How One of the Most Notorious Spies in American History Was Brought to Justice

Here, Keith Johnson, working for AFP, interviews the author of that book, Ronald J. Olive, who describes Pollard as having stolen more secrets than any spy in US history. It’s a good short read and ends with a powerful quote by Mr. Oliver who was a key player in the investigation into Pollard’s crimes. Speaking about the many Republican and Democratic members of the House and Senate who support Pollard, he says:

“They don’t know what the true story is,” said Olive. “I wrote my book to tell the story from the inside. It tells them everything they need to know. It’s the true story—not just what Jonathan Pollard is saying now. It’s who he really is, what he really did and the devastation that he caused.”

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for a clean break.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

‘Fortunately, the major media outlets, Hollywood and the US financial sector are controlled by Salafists.’ WHAT?!? Hollywood controlled by Salafists?!? That might almost be worse than Zionists!

Could the govt. of the USA please show all fundos the door and keep the entertainment and finance industries free of all these self serving and biased groups? WHOS a Salafist or Zionist in Hollywood and the finance sector? Get rid of all these extraneous and agenda idiots out of the neutral spaces of the public sector! Proliferation and proselytization or infiltration by religionists is detestable and polluting!

Neutral spaces can only be useful to society and preserved by neutral workers. Identify all so called persons who are not dedicated to the job per se instead using work as a platform for religion or promotion of belief system (proselytization) and kick them out. This is public sphere not their home town backyard or at least demand any owners as well to make clear that the bank or production house is Salafist or Zionist aligned. Little wonder USA is bankrupt and the films are so propaganda like and manipulative. We the PEOPLE OF THE WORLD want agenda free banks and films!

ARTICLE 3

Mali : Islamists rout Tuareg from their own rebellion in north Mali – 6/29/12 10:52 AM

Mali – Separatist Tuareg rebels led the takeover of northern Mali but Islamists who fought alongside them have now dislodged the desert nomads from all key positions, scuppering their dream of independence. It was the Tuareg’s rebellion, one which they have waged several times in past decades in their bid to split northern Mali, which they call Azawad, from the south where the government in Bamako has long marginalised their community.
But this vast northern desert had also become the base of Al-Qaeda allies and Islamists, whose fighters appeared alongside the Tuareg as they seized the main cities and then planted their own black flag, laying down their strict Islamic laws.

“Today, you need a magnifying glass to find a trace of the MNLA fighters,” said Malian journalist Tiegoum Boubeye Maiga, referring to the Tuareg rebel movement, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. The MNLA was formed in late 2011, including members of rebel groups who were active in the nineties. Boosted by the return of heavily armed Tuareg who had gone to fight for Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, the rebels launched their rebellion in January and quickly overwhelmed a demoralised and poorly equipped Malian army.

Angry and frustrated, a group of low-ranking soldiers carried out a coup on March 22 against a government they said was incompetent in dealing with the rebellion. But the coup only worsened the situation as the unmanned north became easy prey and fell to the rebel groups in a matter of days. Alongside the main Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) backed by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) an offshoot of the also-present Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Tuareg were swiftly pushed aside. While they still maintained a presence, unilaterally declaring independence for Azawad, tensions grew between the two groups, erupting in bloody combat in the town of Gao on Wednesday where the Tuareg were chased from their headquarters.

MUJAO spokesman Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui said it had “seized the governor’s palace and the residence of MNLA secretary general Bilal Ag Acherif who fled with his soldiers.” Some 20 people were reported killed by witnesses, and Ag Acherif was said to have fled, wounded, to a neighbouring country. While in former colonial power France the MNLA garnered certain sympathy, seen as a group which could counter the Islamist groups, and regularly given airtime to explain their struggle, the reality on the ground was different.

“While the Islamists were doing work on the ground, the Tuareg were talking to the media,” said Maiga.

The Islamists slowly moved their chessmen into place, first blocking the Tuareg from accessing the heavy weapons they had brought back from Libya and hidden in the AQIM-controlled mountains in north-eastern Mali, experts said. Then they won sympathy on the ground among the different tribes in the north, where Tuareg are a minority, by distributing basic goods and insisting they wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of Mali.

“When the mujahideen took Gao, they walked through the town brandishing the Malian flag, we liked that,” said Saly Toure who works for the Sahel Museum in Gao which has been closed since the beginning of the crisis. But to win “the Islamists also played the corruption card wholeheartedly,” said an African diplomat based in Bamako, on condition of anonymity. “A very influent leader of a citizens’ association in Gao was ‘bought’. Since then he turned his back on the Tuareg to support the Islamists.” He said the defeat of the MNLA would change the framework of negotiations with transition authorities who took over from the junta. Lacking money, abandoned by their supporters and riven by internal divisions, the Tuareg rebels have been sorely weakened, and only hold small towns such as Gossi, Menaka and Anderamboukane.

However the Islamists have not been welcomed with open arms and protests have broken out as many in the northern main cities – home to a hodgepodge of black African and Arab tribes – have no interest in the strict Islamic state sought by their occupiers.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Where are the Americans when you need them? The Tuareg need help here. There are already too many Islamist countries. Send some mercs wrapped up in blankets to preted to be Tuaregs and also send funding and supplies to make sure the AFRICAN NOMAD Tuaraegs get their homeland. Whats going on USA? Diversity remember? And just look at what happend to the Sufi shrines just recently? Start emptying those US army bases back home filled with comfy whitebread kids and put those resources to good use, there is a FRIENDLY COUNTRY the CIA or FBI (maybe Russia and China should do that instead – for ‘humanitarian’ reasons, better the Red bloc than more strict shariah Islamists . . . ) or what not needs to carve out in North Africa where Gaddafi fell . . . airlift some ‘Tuareg’ to Mali pronto . . . heck put guns in the hands of ‘illegal immigrants’ (i.e. especially Latinos or others in the US military about to be thrown away . . . ) about to be deported, and send them there to garrison or be led by Tuareg commanders if USA can’t do anything else cleverer than send away trained and dedicated troops simply because they were not born in USA . . .

ARTICLE 4

Israel holds beauty pageant for Holocaust survivors – June 30, 2012

Hava Hershkovitz, 79, (2nd right), a Holocaust survivor and winner of a beauty contest for survivors of the Nazi genocide, stands with other contestants during a contest in the northern Israeli city of Haifa June 28, 2012. — Reuters pic
JERUSALEM, June 29 — A beauty contest for Holocaust survivors stirred deep emotions in Israel today, with organisers hailing it an affirmation of life and detractors calling it a macabre spectacle.

Fourteen women who survived the Nazi genocide took the pageant stage before a packed hall in the city of Haifa. Each of the contestants shared a bit of their personal stories before the capacity crowd.

The event touched a raw nerve with some Israelis who saw it as cheapening the memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust during World War Two.

Others said it was a self-image boost for aging survivors, some of whom have fallen into poverty.

Shimon Sabag, director of Helping Hand, a private group that aids thousands of the estimated 200,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, said the contest held yesterday had been so successful he may hold a similar event next year.

“There were 1,000 survivors there who enjoyed the event,” Sabag told Reuters. “People don’t have to see Holocaust survivors mainly as a group of wheelchair-bound victims.”

Former Israeli lawmaker Colette Avital, who heads a survivors’ organisation, was quoted by local media as denouncing the competition as “macabre”.

The contest winner, silver-haired Romanian-born Hava Hershkovitz, 79, regaled with a blue and white sash as a tiara was placed on her head. She said the victory was “her revenge, showing how despite the horrors her family went through, her beauty and personality have endured,” according to Shabag.

“We should never forgive and forget what they went through, but I find this a very constructive way to show these people remain beautiful,” he added.

Hershkovitz, one of hundreds of survivors in an assisted living facility sponsored by Sabag’s group, won a family weekend at a resort and all 100 contestants were issued with electronic distress buttons. — Reuters

[[[ **** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Israel shows confidence and forward looking to do this. Death camp chic this is not, but being quite holocaust related does subsume the ‘Death camp chic’ meme and take the ball away from the aggressors among Nazis (Differentiate : there are Nazi ideologists that do not accept the worst aspects of Nazism . . . ). And Leviathan’s love of women-mountains cannot be balanced with skeletal crones who suffered so much . . . Israel is displaying a form of maturity most nations of the world could do with, though in practical application on the ground (i.e. Gaza, Palestine issues) where the issue of UN treaties and land, there needs to be much more work. A sign of good things though.

Let me preface this column by saying that I don’t think all conservatives and right-wingers are stupid. In fact I have some right-leaning friends of a libertarian bent who are really smart, and a lot of fun to argue with. They may have an unquestioning faith, bordering on religious zealotry, in the wonders of the “market,” but like Jesuit-trained Catholics defending the existence of God, debating that faith with them can be entertaining and even challenging.

Having said that, I have to say that the so called “rock-ribbed” conservative crowd — let’s change that to “rock-headed” — that serves as the foot-soldiers for the Koch-brothers-funded Tea Party “movement” are really low-wattage.

Back in 2008-2010, their incredibly inane rallying cry was: “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!”

Never mind that the Medicare these bozos were trying to protect is a government program.

Now, after the latest Supreme Court decision, with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the four alleged “liberal” members of the court to uphold the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare), the new cry from these dopes is that they want to move to Canada “because the US is too socialist.”

I kid you not!

Wally Weldon (@WallyWeldon), is a classic of the genre. In a Tweet, he declares, “I’m moving to Canada, the US is entirely too socialist.”

Problem: Canada has what might best be described as socialized health care. Way back in 1947, Tommy Douglas, a social-democratic provincial leader of the prairie province of Saskatchewan, introduced the first public hospital insurance program in Canada. That plan was expanded nationwide in 1957 in the face of militant opposition from the Canadian Medical Association. In 1962, Saskatchewan broadened the program to cover all medical costs, making health care in that province fully funded for all by the government. A conservative Canadian national government expanded the program in Saskatchewan nationwide in 1966. Doctors fees were set buy the provinces, but doctors responded by adding on private charges called “extra billing.” That practice was banned in 1984, giving Canada the basic system it has to this day. It’s quality health care at half the cost in terms of share of GDP (10%) that it is in the US (20%).

Tea Party wackos see socialism in Obamacare (!) and in everything Obama the Democrats do.Against all logic, Tea Party wackos see “socialism” or even communism in Obamacare (!) and in everything Obama the Democrats do (if only!).

Canada’s Medicare-for-all program is not socialist in the way that the British National Health program is socialist–with UK hospitals owned by the government and UK doctors receiving state salaries. Doctors in Canada still are private entrepreneurs, but their fees for service are set by the provincial governments. Hospitals can also be private, but patients only pay a nominal charge for treatment in them. Their costs and their reimbursements are negotiated by governments.

Do these conservatives who want to flee to Canada to escape “socialist” Obamacare even know any of this?

It’s hard to believe they wouldn’t. Fox TV, the main “news” source for the ignorant and willfully ignorant, has run plenty of scare stories about a non-existent “wave” of Canadians allegedly pouring across the border to the good-ol’ capitalist USA to get medical treatment they are allegedly denied in “socialist” Canada. On investigation, most of these stories fall apart very quickly. But at least the viewers ought to get the picture that Canadians have socialized medical care.

Obamacare isn’t remotely socialist, meanwhile. Its crucial flaw, indeed, is precisely that it leaves the whole funding of American medical care in the hands of the private insurance industry (it caters shamelessly to most of the industries in the US medical-industrial complex, but especially to the insurance industry, which expects to clean up on the health insurance mandate). Canadians, meanwhile, effectively did away with private health insurance in their country when they introduced their Medicare program for all Canadians.

Meanwhile, these clowns who want to flee to Canada may be in for a rude surprise if they do more than yack on Twitter and actually try to flee Obamacare. Canada doesn’t provide its free medical care to outsiders, and it’s very hard on would-be immigrants who might want to get a free ride on their health care system. If you go to Canada and get sick or injured, you will get treated, but you’ll also get a hefty bill if you’re not Canadian. You should hope you have some kind of private US medical insurance to handle the bill or it could really set you back.

I had some friends in their late 50s who tried to immigrate to Canada from Alaska a few years ago. They both had lifetime insurance from the woman’s former job as a state worker in Alaska, but even so, they were denied landed immigrant status in Canada, and were told it was because the immigration authorities feared they would end up using (abusing) Canada’s health care system anyhow.

No surprise that, but it is a delicious case of “turnabout is fair play” (not for my two friends, who knew all about Canada’s health system and, with their lifetime retirement insurance plan, had no need or desire to freeload off it.) Conservatives in the US are always railing that Mexicans are coming across the border illegally to the US to get free Medicaid in this country. Now they want to go further north across the next border to freeload for health care themselves.

But it’s not going to work.

They’d do better to do a little research about Canada’s system of government-funded health care, and then, once they understand it, join the fight to get the US Medicare program they love so much, “socialist” as it may be, expanded to cover every American they way it works in Canada.

I’m not holding my breath for a new Tea Party cry of “Get the government’s hands to broaden their reach and extend my Medicare to cover my kids, my grandkids amd my neighbors!”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

They both had lifetime insurance from the woman’s former job as a state worker in Alaska, but even so, they were denied landed immigrant status in Canada, and were told it was because the immigration authorities feared they would end up using (abusing) Canada’s health care system anyhow.

They could simply be required to sign away their rights of access to Canada’s healthcare system then be allowed to move instead? This sort of thing shows where the hegelian dialect between governments is at work, they want to prevent immigration and hence force people to remain in countries that do not suit them through inflexible laws. Such people innvariably become disillusioned and disruptiv and end up in jail, enruiiching the Prison-Supplier/Contractor Complex.

In the real world before the passport was invented, people did move and passport laws are artificial and do not regard very reasonable reasons for moving, especially those from fundo countries that need the ‘first/free world’ to beat understanding of the UN Human Rights Charter into them or unseat the Dictators and their nepotistic family blocs.

In fact poor health (this is a spiritual or perhaps energic thing) could be very well due to NOT being allowed to migrate by governments which again causes more cost for all countries overall intentionally, making insurance and healthcare profiteering an industry off the people being disallowed to move to a suitable magnetic declination! Wanna have lots of earth quakes and senile aging people? Degradation of young minds? Keep disallowing migration and voting dictators and plutocrats!

The man whose wife fell victim to the Chinese government’s strict one-child policy has gone missing after he posted photographs online of his wife and their aborted baby. Government officials had forcibly aborted the late-term pregnancy earlier this month, prompting an international outcry and, consequently, leading to the suspension of three officials in the Shaanxi province.

The abortion took place on June 2 (seven months into the pregnancy), provoked by the fact that Deng Jiyuan and his wife Feng Janmei could not pay the 40,000-yuan ($6,300) fine for having a second child. In protest of the horrific act, Deng Jiyuan published graphic photos of his dead baby online, attracting a flurry of international criticism and reigniting the debate over China’s controversial one-child policy.

Embittered over Deng’s public reaction, local officials coordinated a backlash against the family, branding them as traitors and setting them under government surveillance. “We are already heartbroken from losing the baby,” lamented Deng Jicai, a sister of Deng Jiyuan. “How did we become traitors?”

Deng Jicai has since condemned the government’s actions, asserting that guards have patrolled outside Feng’s hospital room and have even followed family members when they go to the restroom or leave the hospital. Deng also emphasized that her brother and sister-in-law initially refrained from notifying the media but spoke to German reporters who were traveling to the province after the government refused to deliver investigation results that had been promised.

“We did not make more out of the story,” Deng attested. “My sister-in-law mainly stated what she had experienced.”

Deng Jiyuan traveled to Beijing last week to meet with lawyers and journalists to discuss the incident. But, according to his sister, Mr. Deng was met with fierce resistance. “More than 100 people and a dozen of cars showed up to stop him, and a man suddenly appeared and kicked my brother in the stomach,” Deng Jicai said.

On Sunday, government officials purportedly urged local townspeople to unfold a banner near the hospital where Feng was located, which called the family “traitors” and ordered that they be excommunicated from the town. Meanwhile, photos were posted online displaying a red banner that reads, “severely beat the traitors and expel them.”

Ms. Deng responded on China’s popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo, decrying the government’s effort to defame and incite violence on her family:

I feel like crying but have no tears. Where is justice? Zengjia Township, where I was born and brought up, how can I still love you? I just don’t understand in what way I have committed treason! I don’t know what you mean by calling me a ‘traitor.’ My lord, in what way I have sold the People’s Republic of China? I didn’t beg you for pity for my miserable sister-in-law. I didn’t ask you for even the slightest bit of sympathy. Just get lost! Let us go home!!!

Prompted by the family’s tragic story, 43-year-old Zhang Wen Fang has also risked government retribution as she reached out to the human rights organization All Girls Allowed to describe a similar incident that occurred four years ago. LifeSiteNews.com reported on the story:

According to Zhang, on May 23rd, 2008, when she was nine months pregnant, at least eleven Family Planning officials entered her home while her husband was away. Eight or nine men and three women dragged her into a van and took her to the People’s Hospital, where they induced labor despite her protests. At 8 p.m. they tried to inject an unknown chemical into her stomach, and Zhang resisted: “I pulled the needle out,” she said. “But then six men held me down so that they could give me the injection with a second needle.” Afterwards, they kept her in a room and did not let her family know where she was.

Two days later Zhang’s contractions began and then her water broke. “I was saying, ‘Help, help!’ but they ignored me and wouldn’t even let me out of the room,” she said. When she woke up the next day, after having lost consciousness, Zhang’s baby was gone. “When I asked the officials and doctors what happened to the baby, if it was alive or dead, they would not tell me,” she lamented.

“Some people think contacting the foreign media equals selling out the country,” says Liang Zhongtang, a retired social sciences research who now studies China’s family planning policy. In turn, Liang affirms, the Chinese government is pursuing physical recourse to silence media reports that may position the country’s social policy under an unfavorable spotlight.

Another Chinese couple (below), Yang Zhongchen, and his wife Jin Yani pose in their one bedroom home in Qianan, China, July 26, 2007. Seven years earlier, Yang’s heavily pregnant wife was dragged from her bed and taken to a clinic, where her baby was killed by injection while still inside her.

Yang Zhongchen and Jin Yani

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Instead of forced late term abortions, how about getting China to send the offending family to a country that would not mind a few more kids even if not ethnically local? There must be some international treaties to allow easy migration based on problem issues like these. UN? NAM? How about putting such parents in touch with countries that are ready to allow them to migrate to to avoid such terrible and dehumanizing treatment? China’s higher authorities have as of now punished the officials over late-term abortion case :

Police in Detroit attempt to clear out local infestation of seagulls… by SHOOTING them

He turned himself in at the Broward County Main Jail where he is being held on $30,000, charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious conduct on a child under age 16 by someone over age 18.

He has been suspended from the force and faces up to 15 years in prison as well as a $10,000 fine.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Save the taxpayer money from the prison contractor or even courts system and also do not shame publicly like this. The expense of shame was off 1 person (victim) by 1 person (aggressor), not 1 person by the whole of society. At most make the policeman strip in front of as many relevant people of the girls choice as needed and be done with the whole thing.

The police man gets to keep the job, has been punished appropriately and equitably in sufficiently private settings so that continuation of work is possible, and can continue police work and life with whatever useful experience from so many years on the force. For a mistake of a few minutes, taking away all of the above and destroying a man’s life is an indictment on society. Shouldn’t there be some form of privacy applied here? How about a transfer instead? This cop should not be finished off like this, for a moment’s mistake, does the city have the right to throw away a decade or more of work and value?

Cooper made the announcement in a letter to Andrew Sullivan, who was doing a story for TheDailyBeast.com about the social impact of famous people who come out as gay.

Sullivan reached out to Cooper for his thoughts, to which Anderson replied with a letter.

“There continue to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation, and I believe there is value in making clear where I stand,” Cooper wrote.

“The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

“I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues. In a perfect world, I don’t think it’s anyone else’s business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted. I’m not an activist, but I am a human being and I don’t give that up by being a journalist.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Maybe being homosexual (gay or lesbian) typifies people with a sense of equilibrium and fair mindedness. Being gay to balance out the collective nature of man.

Sexual ‘society’ as is, is quite invasive as of now, perhaps the natural state of affairs would be bisexuality where attraction and entertainment is concerned.

Biologically mm/ff procreation can be viable due to technology so extinction of mankind is no longer a valid excuse to denounce. There needs though to be more bisexual people coming out as bisexual, and all existing homosexuals need to examine this line of thought before marrying and later divorcing which does hurt the case for sexual diversity.

Practicality, organic and cost wise, the heteros have the case (no need to use tech), but where awareness, abuse and other factors are considered, yes gays and lesbians are the frontline against oppression of sexual diversity and sexual choice. This was never taught in school, there needs to be a UN approved syllabus to prevent further gender wars and sidelining and abuse of LGBTs. Barring genetic basis preferences, in a civil and protected environment, perhaps there will be more bisexuals rather than homosexuals?

(Reuters) – Every day some 3,000 Indian children die from illnesses related to malnutrition, and yet countless heaps of rodent-infested wheat and rice are rotting in fields across the north of their own country.

It is an extraordinary paradox created by a rigid regime of subsidies for grain farmers, a woeful lack of storage facilities and an inefficient, corruption-plagued public distribution system that fails millions of impoverished people.

And it is an embarrassment for the government led by the Congress party, which returned to power in 2009 thanks in large part to pledges of welfare for the poor, who make up about 40 percent of the 1.2 billion population.

Quite why the authorities could not simply offload the mountains of grain for free to fill empty stomachs is puzzling, but the explanation lies in the complex regulations that govern procurement and distribution.

“This is a case of criminal neglect by the government,” said D. Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India, an opposition group. “The ruling party has been the worst manager of the demand-supply of food grains.”

Officials say that, in all, about 6 million tons of grain worth at least $1.5 billion could perish. Analysts say the losses could be far higher because more than 19 million tons are now lying in the open, exposed to searing summer heat and monsoon rains.

Saddomajra, a village in the bread-basket state of Punjab, is one of the dumping grounds for the record stockpile of wheat that has accumulated after half a decade of bumper harvests in the world’s second-largest producer of the grain.

Here there are thousands of sacks of decomposing wheat, occupying an area the size of a football field and towering in some places to the height of a house. Tarpaulins cover most of the mounds, but many of the bags are torn, spilling blackened grain blighted by fungus and insects.

“The wheat has been lying there for the past five years. It smells very bad,” said Hakkam Singh, who works as a watchman at the open field. “Nobody steals it, but people use it to feed fish and poultry farms.”

At another dump, on the outskirts of Punjab’s Amritsar city, locals told Reuters that officials sometimes dip into the sacks of rotting grain to mix it with fresh wheat for distribution to the poor who hold ration cards.

WHEAT STOCKS AT ALL-TIME HIGH

In India the government buys rice and wheat from farmers at a guaranteed price, a support system akin to the subsidies that led to Europe’s notorious butter mountains and milk lakes.

The government has raised the price it pays to buy wheat by more than 70 percent since 2007, which only encourages more production. As a result, stocks are now at an all-time high of about 50 million tons, 12 times more than the official target.

“It’s related to pure economic security for the farmers,” said Purnima Menon, a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in New Delhi. “They make a safe choice of crops.”

Rajiv Tandon, a senior adviser for health and nutrition at aid organization Save the Children in India, said that to diversify the country’s food basket farmers should be offered incentives to grow vegetables and other cash crops.

However, he said root-and-branch modernization is needed. The farm sector was transformed by the introduction of high-yielding seeds, fertilizers and irrigation during the Green Revolution nearly half a century ago, ending a dependence on imports, but it has seen only incremental reform ever since.

Storage is one of the biggest problems of all.

“For the last 25 years the storage capacity has not been upgraded at all,” Tandon said. “Part of the grain is officially stored outside store houses, where the chance of rotting is high. There are often not enough sacks and tarpaulins, and sometimes it is dumped by a graveyard or cremation centre.”

Grain stocks officially deemed as stored in government warehouses now stand at a record 82.4 million tons. However, that is about 20 million tons more than actual capacity, which means grain lying in the open is being passed off as “stored”.

WHO WILL BUY?

State-run Food Corp. of India (FCI), the main grain procurement agency, buys about one-third of total wheat output to run welfare programs and keep stocks for emergency needs.

What to do with the rest is a conundrum for the government, which is reluctant to sell wheat for less than the inflated support price it paid to farmers because it would put further strain on an already hefty fiscal deficit.

Recently it offered 6 million tons of rice and wheat to state administrations for the poor at cheaper rates, in addition to 55 million already earmarked for financial year 2012/13. But there were not many takers because state governments are grappling with budget overruns themselves.

Exporting wheat is not an attractive alternative.

After buying wheat from farmers and adding freight, storage and transport costs, the free on board (FOB) price is around $346 a ton. However, Indian wheat would only be competitive in the export market at around $260, which implies a loss – effectively a further subsidy, and this time to consumers in other countries – of $85-90 per ton for the government.

The brimming granaries forced India to lift a four-year-old ban on private exports last September, but lower global prices have scuppered those plans.

Traders say that even if India went all-out to export wheat it could at best sell 6-7 million tons a year because of transport bottlenecks and doubts about the quality of the grain.

New Delhi is considering the export of up to 3 million tons of wheat to sanctions-hit Iran, but traders say Tehran will not be falling over itself to buy because of concern that Indian grain may be tainted by fungal disease.

Last month the government decided to offer 3 million tons of wheat to local biscuit makers and flour millers at $205 a ton against the $225 it paid to farmers in 2012.

“Subsidizing our bread and biscuit makers is easier than subsidizing consumers of other countries,” said a senior government official, who did not wish to be identified due to political criticism of a solution to the surplus that benefits private companies rather than the poor.

In China, a large portion of wheat stocks are channeled into the country’s rapidly expanding animal feed sector, replacing more expensive corn. However, India has an exportable surplus of corn and its meat consumption is far lower, so there is little demand for wheat as a replacement for other grains.

“NATIONAL SHAME”

A government-supported survey published earlier this year found that 42 percent of India’s children under 5 are underweight, almost double that of sub-Saharan Africa. The finding led Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to admit that malnutrition was “a national shame”.

The cause of this widespread malnutrition cannot be tied mechanically to a lack of staples like rice and wheat.

Indeed, many families living on less than $2 a day are fuelled and filled by subsidized carbohydrate-rich food like wheat chapatis. These lack the much-needed protein and other nutrients that come in more expensive food. Poor hygiene and contaminated water are also to blame because they cause illnesses like diarrhoea, which prevents nutrient absorption.

Still, there are real grain shortages in the poorest states.

Here the problem is an inefficient and corruption-prone distribution system. Eighteen months ago investigators said millions of dollars worth of grain meant for poor families had been siphoned off and sold locally and abroad in a scam involving hundreds of government officials.

In 2010 the Supreme Court urged the government to distribute grain free to the hungry rather than let it go to waste in warehouses and open fields, but that hasn’t happened.

This is because state governments are reluctant to buy extra grain for distribution under the food welfare program and, even if they were, only people with under-the-poverty-line ration cards would be entitled to buy it in subsidized shops.

“The problem of rotting grains and the poor going hungry lies in the system itself,” said Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser on food issues to the court.

The government is now planning a food security scheme that will guarantee cheap grain to 63.5 percent of the population.

However, critics see this as political gimmickry. They doubt that the new scheme will be less corrupt, more efficient or better targeted than current programs, and they suspect that the government will not be able to afford a plan that may cost as much as $12 billion in additional subsidies a year.

(Writing by John Chalmers; Additional reporting by Ajay Verma in SADDOMAJRA, India, by John Chalmers, Satarupa Bhattacharjya and Ratnajyoti Dutta in NEW DELHI and by Naveen Thukral in SINGAPORE; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Weekend volunteers with trucks could be given free fuel and maps to ferry grain that is fast deteriorating from warehouses to any area starving. The military (instead of sitting pretty in barracks) could be the first to get moving. India should use those manpower resources. Starving Indians probably would not care that the soldiers did not do their morning run or obstacle course on any day. The starving Indians would however certainly prefer that Indian soldiers bring grain about to rot from warehouses to their homes so that they wont starve while grain rots! This is akin to a national emergency! Taking things too easy India?

ARTICLE 10

Is it a tax or a penalty? Obama and Romney struggle to define aspect of healthcare law – by Calvin Woodward, Associated Press / July 3, 2012

Obama’s health care law is closely modeled on the universal-coverage plan Romney achieved as Massachusetts governor. That plan contains a penalty for noncompliance similar to the one in the federal law upheld by the court last week.

In 2012 file photos President Barack Obama talks to reporters in Washington on June 8 and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 14.

It looks like a tax, smells like a tax, and the Supreme Court says it must be a tax. But politicians in both parties are squirming over how to define the Thing in President Barack Obama’s health care law that requires people to pay up if they don’t get health insurance.
Related stories

The problem for Obama is that, if the Thing is indeed a tax, he is by definition a raiser of taxes on the middle class, which he promised not to be.

If that sounds like an opportunity for Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, well, it’s not that simple.

Could you pass a US citizenship test?

Obama’s health care law is closely modeled on the universal-coverage plan Romney achieved as Massachusetts governor. That plan contains a penalty for noncompliance similar to the one in the federal law upheld by the court last week.

So if Obama is a raiser of taxes, so is Romney.

Contortions have ensued over what to call this health care Thing.

Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom strayed from Republican talking points when he told MSNBC that Romney agrees with Justice Antonin Scalia’s minority opinion that “very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax.”

That position is at odds with congressional Republicans who are determined to portray the Thing as an Obamatax pure and simple.

“The American people do not want to go down this path,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “They do not want the government telling them what kind of insurance policy they have to buy, and how much they have to pay for it, and if you don’t like it we’re going to tax you.”

As for the other side, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California and some others have taken to calling it a “penalty for free riders.”

“This is a penalty on free riders,” echoed Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Just as everyone loves motherhood and apple pie, no one loves a free rider. Not Democrats. And not Republicans.

But Democrats didn’t make that up.

Some years back, Romney called his own Thing a penalty on “free riders.”

The whatever-it-is starts in 2014, will be collected by the Internal Revenue Service and functions like a tax in that its amount is keyed to the income of those who must pay it.

The Obama administration always shied away from calling it a tax for the obvious reason that tax increases are political trouble. But, paradoxically, his health care law only stands today because the high court considered the insurance mandate part of Congress’ broad powers of taxation, therefore constitutional.

The court carefully parsed all of this in a migraine-inducing summary of Chief Justice John Roberts’ written decision.

“The Affordable Care Act describes the ‘shared responsibility payment’ as a ‘penalty,’ not a ‘tax,'” it says. “That label is fatal to the application of the Anti-Injunction Act. It does not, however, control whether an exaction is within Congress’ power to tax. In answering that constitutional question, this Court follows a functional approach, ‘disregarding the designation of the exaction, and viewing its substance and application.'”

In other words, the Thing is a tax.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

All Americans DO NOT CARE what hegelian dialectic terms are applied. call this Tax or call this Penalty, so long as the people PAY, this angers everyone – against BOTH Obama and Romney. NO PAYING, otherwise NO VOTE ! Also, opt outs for any not wanting to pay!

“Until an inspector tells me to stop, I’ll keep serving it. And if they tell me to stop, I will probably still do it,” Bortolin said.

The decision flies in the face of the Windsor Essex County Health Unit, which has banned the raw beef dish kibbeh from a handful of Lebanese restaurants. It also told one restaurant to stop serving steak tartare in May.

Bortolin called the health unit “culturally insensitive” to “hard-working small businesses.”

“Certain preparations have been accepted for years and pose no harm when done properly. Those have been on menus for decades,” Bortolin said. “These meats and dishes have been prepared and eaten this way for centuries.”

Bortolin said the health unit has overreacted to an incident in Ottawa.

In February, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a media release warning customers to not consume finely ground beef sold at New Middleast Supermarket in Ottawa.

“The affected ground beef is a finely ground raw beef known to be used for Kebbeh,” the release said.

The release never mentioned a restaurant. In an email sent Wednesday, CBC News asked the CFIA why it made reference to a specific dish. The agency has not responded.

The owner of the New Middleast Supermarket told CBC News that he didn’t sell the beef to restaurants and that the meat in question was consumed by a customer.

TOKYO: Japan, the home of raw fish, has banned the serving of raw liver after a series of food poisoning cases last year in which five people died and 24 became seriously ill after consuming the dish at a major restaurant chain.

The dish, raw beef liver cut into bite-sized chunks and served with onions and sauce, was taken off restaurant menus indefinitely from July 1 by Japan’s Health Ministry.

“When you actually cook liver it’s a bit rough, but raw it’s very easy to eat,” said Yoshiko Miki, a 38-year-old who rushed to Kintan, a downtown Tokyo restaurant that specialised in the dish, before the ban came into effect.

“Especially the liver here is very nice and delicious. So when I think about the fact that I can’t eat it anymore, it’s quite sad.”

Food analyst Chiharu Saito, a member of the Japan Food Analyst Association, said there were a number of well-liked raw meat items on sale, but beef liver was the most popular.

“In terms of what has the most chance of causing food poisoning, I believe that’s why they chose to ban beef liver,” she said.

“It can be a star product for restaurants, and if they are suddenly unable to sell that then it will indeed affect sales and profits.”

Yuichi Kamata, management chief at Edge, the company that oversees the Kintan restaurant chain, said that probably 90 percent of customers had been coming specifically to eat raw liver, with a plate going for around 1,800 yen.

But despite the ban, it’s still far too early to count out the restaurant chain – or its star product. Kintan said it was looking into developing new products to circumvent the ban, including one in which the liver is partly cooked. – Reuters

This is a right and free choice of all citizens who raise domesticated animals or fresh seafood for meat (I’d advocate getting those petri-dish meat production labs up but until then, the Right to Serve and Eat/Order Raw Food issue should not be compromised on . . . ), process meat under government oversight/health inspections and also the eatery which is again checked by hygiene inspectors and as the above restauranteur says, ‘allows questions to be asked’. How Orwellian can a government get? Also the law in the first article also smacks of racism ever so vaguely.

Raw beef liver is as integral as some types of sushi or asian food (Lebanese example above)to the Japanese, how could Japan act against one of Japan’s strongest points? Raw Food culture can hardly be said to be over-proliferated and has been a tradition for centuries, and barring the rare occasional incident (which might well be sabotage on the suppliers’ part in collusion with local officials or saboteur-workers trying to be racist or Orwellian) chefs are well aware and do take pains to ensure cleanliness of the raw food served. This ban seems unconstitutional. If there is nothing to stop people from humanely culling food animals and serving raw food at home, there cannot fairly be such impositions upon eateries which are obviously cleaner due to government checks and personal reputations of the vendors/owners.

John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a “steel-driver”—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry’s prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer, which he won only to die in victory with his hammer in his hand. The story of John Henry has been the subject of numerous songs, stories, plays, and novels.[1][2]

The legend of John Henry has been compared to that of other American “Big Men”, such as Paul Bunyan[3] and Pecos Bill.[4] John Henry’s heroism is associated with several elements: his strength and grit as a working-class common man, his status as a hero to African American laborers, and his allegorical depiction of “the tragedy of man versus machine” and other aspects of modernization.[3][4]

There are many versions of John Henry’s story. In almost all versions of the story, John Henry is a black man of exceptional physical gifts, a former slave,[1] possibly born in Tennessee.[3] Henry becomes the greatest “steel-driver” in the mid-nineteenth-century push to expand railroads from the East Coast of the United States, across and through the mountains, to the frontier West. However, the owner of the railroad buys a steam-powered hammer to do the work of his mostly black steel-driving crew. To save his job and the jobs of his men, John Henry challenges the owner to a contest: Henry will race the steam-powered hammer. John Henry beats the machine, but exhausted, collapses and dies of a heart attack.

Historicity

The historicity of many aspects of the John Henry legend is subject to wide debate.[1][2] It is commonly stated that Henry’s rail work, including his race against the steam hammer, occurred while working along the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.[3] In particular, Henry is claimed to have raced the steam hammer during the construction of Big Bend tunnel near Talcott, West Virginia between 1869 and 1871.[1][5][6] Talcott holds a yearly festival named for Henry and a statue and memorial plaque have been placed along a highway south of Talcott as it crosses over the Big Bend tunnel.[5]

In Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend, Scott Reynolds Nelson, an associate professor of history at the College of William and Mary, argues that John William Henry (prisoner #497 in the Virginia penitentiary, released by the warden to work on the C&O Railway in the 1870s) is the basis for the legendary John Henry.[7]:39 Nelson asserts that a steam drill race at the Big Bend Tunnel would have been impossible because railroad records do not indicate a steam drill being used there.[4] Instead, he believes the contest took place at the Lewis Tunnel, between Talcott and Millboro, Virginia, where prisoners worked beside steam drills.[8] Nelson also believes that an early version of the ballad that refers to John Henry’s grave as being at “the white house”, “in sand”, and somewhere that locomotives roar, indicates that Henry was buried at the Virginia penitentiary, where unmarked graves have been found.[9]

According to Nelson:

…workers managed their labor by setting a “stint,” or pace, for it. Men who violated the stint were shunned…Here was a song that told you what happened to men who worked too fast: they died ugly deaths; their entrails fell on the ground. You sang the song slowly, you worked slowly, you guarded your life, or you died.[7]:32

Other research has placed Henry’s famous race near Leeds, Alabama. Retired chemistry professor and folklorist John Garst, of the University of Georgia, has argued that the contest instead happened at the Coosa Mountain Tunnel or the Oak Mountain Tunnel of the Columbus & Western Railway (now part of Norfolk Southern Railway) near Leeds on September 20, 1887. Based on documentation that corresponds with the account of C. C. Spencer, who claimed in the 1920s to have witnessed the contest, Garst speculates that John Henry may have been a man named Henry who was born a slave to P.A.L. Dabney, the father of the chief engineer of that railroad, in 1850.[10] Since 2007, the city of Leeds has honored John Henry’s legend during an annual September festival, held third weekend in September, called the Leeds Downtown Folk Festival & John Henry Celebration.[11]

Garst and Nelson have debated the merits of their divergent research conclusions.[12] Other claims have been made over the years that places Henry and his contest in Kentucky or Jamaica.[13]

Cultural references and influence

The tale of John Henry has been used as a symbol in many cultural movements, including labor movements[14] and the Civil Rights Movement.[15]
“ John Henry is a symbol of physical strength and endurance, of exploited labor, of the dignity of a human being against the degradations of the machine age, and of racial pride and solidarity. During World War II his image was used in U.S. government propaganda as a symbol of social tolerance and diversity.[16] ”
Music

The story of John Henry is traditionally told through two types of songs: ballads, commonly referred to as “The Ballad of John Henry”, and work songs known as hammer songs, each with wide-ranging and varying lyrics.[2][13] Some songs, and some early folk historian research, conflate the songs about John Henry with those of John Hardy, a West Virginian outlaw.[13] Ballads about John Henry’s life typically contain four major components: a premonition by John Henry as a child that steel-driving would lead to his death, the lead-up to and the results of the race against the steam hammer, Henry’s death and burial, and the reaction of John Henry’s wife.[13]

Henry is the subject of the 1931 Roark Bradford novel John Henry, illustrated by noted woodcut artist J. J. Lankes. The novel was adapted into a stage musical in 1940, starring Paul Robeson in the title role.[2] According to Steven Carl Tracy, Bradford’s works were influential in broadly popularizing the John Henry legend beyond railroad and mining communities and outside of African American oral histories.[2] In a 1933 article published in The Journal of Negro Education, Bradford’s John Henry was criticized for “making over a folk-hero into a clown.”[17] A 1948 obituary for Bradford described John Henry as “a better piece of native folklore than Paul Bunyan.”[18]

Ezra Jack Keats’s John Henry: An American Legend, published in 1965, is a notable picture book chronicling the history of John Henry and portraying him as the “personification of the medieval Everyman who struggles against insurmountable odds and wins.”[15]

Colson Whitehead’s 2001 novel John Henry Days uses the John Henry myth as story background. Whitehead fictionalized the Talcott, West Virginia, John Henry Days festival and the release of the John Henry postage stamp i